Let Me Be Your Hero
by PrincessH
Summary: .:.All Chapters Revised.:.Julie Gaffney married her college sweetheart but he changed into a monster after their wedding. A chance meeting on a cold November day leads to Adam Banks wondering what her secret is. Can he save her or won't she let him? Warning contains adult sitns. and lang. PLZ R&R, NO Flames! JA
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Mighty Ducks or anything affiliated with them. This work is an original plot based off the characters created by disney and is not for personal profit. I own the plot and any original characters created. Enjoy;)**

His blue eyes glanced up at the flight times for the hundredth time that night. The florescent numbers shining back at him with a mocking steadiness. They seemed not to be moving at all and the reason was more than clear. The large glass window he was standing at painted a picture of the world outside and it was covered with a blanket of puffy white snow. Adam Banks never came back to Minnesota and now he was sure why, _because you can never get out_, he had joked to himself when he entered the airport 5 hours earlier. His eyes silently grazed the runway in front of him. He was just annoyed with the whole situation, taking a deep sighing breath in before leaning against the glass to flip open his phone. For the first time in 6 years Adam had decided to return to Minnesota and this was what he got. A massive snow storm covering most of the northern part of the US. The radar on his phone only confirmed the futility of him waiting at the airport. It didn't look like he was getting out of here tonight.

It had been late October before Adam had finally called to inform his parents he would indeed be joining them for their Thanksgiving celebration this year. His former girlfriend, April, had called him a few choice names before she walked out on him the week before. The event had made his mind up that he'd rather go home than be alone in his drafty New York apartment for the holiday. The only people that ever called him anymore was his agent and his Mother which was pretty pathetic for a man that was bringing home a few thousand a week in promotions and personal appearances, not to mention his hefty salary playing for the New Jersey Devils. He sighed again, glancing through his call log. _Having your phone number unlisted didn't help his cause either__,_ he thought bitterly. Psychos still found a way to call him and the people he did want to find him couldn't do so. He was any girls dream, a no strings attached millionaire, but they all ended up leaving him after a short time together. It was always the same excuse,

"You're not in love with me..." He mimicked, thinking back to the last one to say that to him. April had casually dropped the sentence on his answering machine the night she left. They were right but that wasn't his fault, it was hers. _God, he needed to forget about her, _he thought closing his phone and leaning his head back against the cold glass. She was going to be the death of him, keeping him up at night. He'd wake up alone and in a cold sweat over her. It was mostly her eyes he dreamed of. Her beautiful, flawless blue eyes that haunted his dreams and occupied his wandering mind during the day. The way they sparkled when she laughed or darkened when she cried. _Why couldn't he just forget her?_ It went as far as he once called one of his girlfriends her name when they were getting hot and heavy in an expensive hotel room in Paris. He never heard from her again, needless to say. He heard she ran off with a French model. Wasn't that always the story, Adam Banks, left on his own. He sighed again, sitting his bag in the chair next to him. He was too tightly wound to sit still right now. He had passed Eden Hall on his way out of town that night and the memories had came flooding back to him. Not that they weren't there before, but seeing where they took place made it all the more real. Now he wouldn't be able to be with anyone for at least a few weeks before he could get her out of his system again. She was like a drug, he had to have her but it was impossible now. It had been for a long time. If only he'd never heard the name Julie Gaffney, his life would be so much simpler.

She stood looking up at the arrive times and sighed, pacing in front of the gate where his plane was suppose to arrive at any minute. It had been nearly an hour since she arrived there, knowing full well that all flights were delayed but if she wasn't there he'd be mad. Somehow he'd find a way to be mad and it wasn't nice to make Greg mad. Julie Williams was a shell of the woman she use to be. Her Husband had done that to her but deep down she liked to think it was her fault. Some as of karma for her bad choices in life. Her fault that she let the only man she'd ever really loved walk out on her without a protest, without so much as a word to stop his retreating form. Yeah, this was all her fault. She sat down on one of the hard plastic chairs and looked at the ring shining from her left hand. She felt tears forming behind her eyes but she didn't cry, Julie Gaffney cried, she didn't, she couldn't or she's be crying forever at the way her life had turned out. Who would have thought Julie "the cat" Gaffney would turn into a battered woman? Certainly not Julie herself.

Greg Williams was an all-state quarterback in high school and loved to party. That's how she'd met him. looking back now, she knew she should have seen the signs. Julie had met him in her junior year at the University of Minnesota and they'd fallen in love so quick it felt like it was meant to be. Like a fairy tale, as some would say, he had swept her off her feet. Greg had been at a late night party that was the first she'd attended all year and they had instantly connected. They had talked politics and debated for hours over which candidate should win the coming election before laughing at how much they had in common. He was the best boyfriend any girl could dream of in those first few months. He took her out to dinners and brought her expensive gifts even though she told him he didn't have to. He had said she was worth it and she'd believed him. She should have seen it starting from the beginning, the way he held her too close around her friends, the look he got when she didn't want to do something he did but she was too in love to hear Connie's pleas to look at it from an outside point of view. Greg had even managed to talk her into quitting the hockey team so they'd have more time together, since it really wasn't going anywhere anyway, that was his excuse. Girls don't play hockey in the NHL was all he ever said about the matter after, so why waste time that could be spent on him with a sport that would never accept her the way she wanted.

They graduated together the following year and got engaged over that first summer out of school. He was always in a hurry to get things done, so their wedding was later that year. He was just starting his company, he had told her he was a sports agent and would be traveling often so they needed to get the whole wedding business out of the way. The wedding had been the last time Julie saw Connie or any of the Ducks. Of course _he_ wasn't there anyway, it had been easier that way, she'd have no regrets or have to look into his eyes as she married another man. But she did end up with regrets, regrets that day ever happened or the days that followed. Greg changed that night, Julie could remember it perfectly, all the glitz and glamour that covered his prefect exterior slipped away with the sun and his true colors shown through. That was the first night she learned not to disobey him. He was a monster, in sheep's clothing. The following months had progressively gotten worse. It started out as small things, the way she cleaned the house, the way she made the bed, the way she cooked his dinner, small things that turned into big fights between them and always left her bruised. Every guy that looked her direction was automatically something she invited and wanted, his jealously would go into overdrive at the slightest glance. She couldn't hold a job for very long because he'd either find an excuse for her to quit or someone would start to get suspicious of her bruises and she'd leave before they asked too many questions. Her life was a living nightmare she could not escape but it was her fault after all.

It seemed almost that the smaller the issue the bigger a deal Greg made it out to be. That's why she had to be here on time today. He would know, somehow he would know, even if he couldn't see she was there on time, he would know and she would pay if he found out she disobeyed him by not listening to the time his flight was landing. The guidelines were simple and she tried followed them to the best of her ability, but sometimes that wasn't enough for him. Lately it hadn't been. The bruise forming on her upper right arm proved that she forgot to mop the hall floor last week, Greg liked his house clean. The bruise in the form of a hand print signified where he had pushed her to the floor to see how dirty it really was. Julie silently rubbed at it before forgetting about the incident, She couldn't dwell on it and she always forgave him in the end, so there was nothing else to do but forget about it until it was gone. He'd promised to always find her if she left and he held true to his word when she tried to leave just 6 months into their marriage. The night she came back, he made sure that was a lesson she learned.

The cold air from the airport doors opening and closing just a few feet away brought Julie back from her nightmares and she glanced up at the flight schedule once again, sighing heavily. Her eyes wondered from the board to the other people waiting for their loved ones to come home from the holiday or waiting themselves to get on a flight to somewhere else. She loved to people watch, it was the one thing she could do without fear of pain to follow. She thought about what their lives must be like. The old lady sitting a few chairs away from her knitting a small cap. probably for a grandchild. The young woman, holding the bag over her should tightly against her and looking at the flight board. The fluorescent lights shining off her face to illuminate her blue eyes. Julie used to have eyes like that before Greg beat them out of her. now they were just a dull lifeless puddle of blue. She had nothing and no one for them to shine for anymore. Not even her family had talked to her in months. She was lucky when they called that Greg even allowed her to speak with them. She supposed it was to keep up appearances that they were the happy couple he made them out to be when they went out in public. Which was becoming rarer as well. She grabbed at her arm again as it throbbed under her palm and thought of the ice pack she'd need when she got home.

A man standing near the large window at the end of the terminal caught her eye and her heart skipped a beat at the familiar look of him. _Could it really be him? Was she just wishing it was him?_ She thought, trying to remember his features and how they all fell together to make up Adam Banks. He turned to face her and his crystal blue eyes met hers for only a moment but that was all it took. Her breath hitched, her eyes darting to the floor quickly and she wondered if he would even recognize her, she'd changed so much over the past couple of years she doubted if her Mother would even recognize her anymore.

_It was her, she had changed her hair, it was shorter and darker but it was her_, he thought, the air stuck in his throat. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move as the very girl he was just daydreaming about sat a few feet away from him. She looked tired, he noted first, more than anything else she looked to be exhausted and Adam suddenly found himself thinking of things he hadn't thought of in years. The way her eyes sparkled when she smiled at him, the way her bare skin felt against his rough hockey worn hands, and the taste of her lips against his so many years ago. _Did she even remember him?_ He wondered. She must, no one forgets their first love, he sure hadn't in the years since they'd been apart.

The distance across the terminal wasn't that far but it seemed like a great distance to him as he took the first step towards his past. Her face distorted, she almost looked like she was in pain as he began to move towards her. Her eyes avoided his direction, she seemed to be purposely ignoring the fact that he was walking towards her.

_Please, don't let him be coming over here_, she silently pleaded for someone to hear her. If Greg showed up; she'd be in big trouble. She didn't need this kind of trouble right now, she just wanted to collect her husband from the airport and return to her simple life out in the country where no one knew her except Greg's friends. _God, how she had longed for this moment for years_, for Adam to just know she needed him and show up to save her from Greg but now she was too scared to take the chance of him being hurt. _What if Greg did something to Adam?_ She wouldn't be the cause for something happening to him. No, she wouldn't put him at risk like that. She would simply pretend she didn't recognize him or that she was someone else and go about her day. The moment he spoke, his voice that familiar baritone, all her thoughts went out the window.

"Julie?" He asked as she turned to face him at the calling of her name. _It really was her, there was no doubt about it_, he thought looking her over. He wanted to take her into his arms and crush her into a hug but something in her eyes stopped him from doing so. The light that he use to live off of, the light that told him everything would be alright in the end because they were together was gone from her eyes. Something had happened to her, something she didn't want to share but her eyes told him everything he needed to know. Julie had been hurt.

"How are you?" He asked as gently as he could. She tried to smile, doing a poor job of faking her pleasure to see him. She was strong even now, no one could take her will away from her but she was tired of fighting. Tired of pretending she was okay. Adam brought out her vulnerable side and she knew if she let it out once she'd confess everything to him.

"I'm fine, Adam. What are you doing here?" She asked, nervously looking back at the nearest gate, as if worried someone would see them. Adam glanced in that direction also out of habit before turning back to her with a smile.

"I'm waiting to head back to New York.. What are you doing here?" He asked, sitting down next to her and bringing his bag to his lap. She immediately tensed and moved farther down the row of seats to the one next to the one she had been occupying. A stray piece of amber hair fell into her eye and she reached up to remove it, showing Adam the 5k diamond that illuminated her left hand. The sparkle caught his eyes immediately and he instinctively reached out for her hand.

"Jules, when did you get married?" He asked, taking her hand in his to inspect the piece of jewelry closer. She hadn't seen him reaching or she would have pulled away too quickly for him to grab her. His hand was rough but his touch felt incredible, like a forbidden fire to a cold lonely soul that had been wandering for years. She wanted to scream out for him to get her out of here, to just take off with her and never look back. That they could still have everything they dreamed of all those late nights they'd spent together planning their future. The momentary happiness she felt ended as she pulled her hand back from his grasp and clutched it with her other hand to get the feelings off.

"Um...just about 3 years ago. Our anniversary was in October." She smiled graciously, still clutching her hand in the other, almost hoping to hold unto whatever she felt when their hands had met. _This wasn't his fight, this wasn't even his problem, it wasn't fair to bring him into it_, she thought silently, hiding her internal monolog behind a brief smile.

Something wasn't right with her. He knew it the moment he had sat down. She wouldn't look him in the eyes the way she used to and she kept glancing back at the gate behind him. Maybe she was still angry with him but the Julie he knew had a hard time hiding her feelings. She would have sneered at him and told him what a jerk he was, not sat here like a wounded puppy, looking for forgiveness.

"Are you waiting for him now?" He asked, trying to figure out what he walked in on. She nodded, slightly, looking over his shoulder at the gate once more, her eyes filled with dread and worry.

"Julie, I haven't seen you in years...I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you missed him coming off the plane. Let's go get some coffee or something." He asked. She wasn't listening, too intent on staring at the closed gate door. He sighed,

"Julie, no one is coming in tonight!" He snapped, wondering why she was so intent on being here for a vacant gate. She tensed at his voice. He almost felt bad because of the expression on her face, it was like kicking someone when they were already down. She was already freaked out and he goes and yells at her. _Good going Banks, you're trying to help her not scare her into never seeing you again_, he thought trying to calm his racing mind. Her eyes bore into him with a fright he'd never seen before. Julie was never frightened, not even for a second of any day had she even pretended to be scared of something.

"I'm sorry.. Look.." He said reaching out to her again but she wouldn't let him take her hand, she backed away, pulling her arms against her chest in a protective fashion. "Can we just go somewhere and talk? There's no flights coming in tonight. Wherever your Husband is, he's stuck there for at least a little while longer." Adam reassured her with a nod. She didn't look up at him, too afraid he already knew something wasn't right. He stood and extended his hand to her to help her stand.

She wanted to take his hand, to just have five more minutes with him and pretend everything was okay again. She had longed to see him again for years and he was right Greg wouldn't be coming in tonight but she still needed to be here in case something changed. Her slowly raised her head and looked at the man standing next to her.

"Let's just go to the coffee shop here?" She suggested, reaching for her purse on the chair next to her. He nodded to her idea.

"Fine, I just want to talk to you..." He reassured her as she finally took his outstretched hand to help herself up. The contact felt natural and she slowly laced her fingers with his, taking comfort in the small moment they shared before dropping her hand from his and leading the way to the coffee shop.


	2. Chapter 2

The shop was mostly empty when they entered, Adam holding the door open for Julie as she passed though the glass barrier. They sat in the back anyway, at her request, away from the prying eyes of the other occupants. It was bad enough they had to walk passed anyone to sit down, Julie did not want to be noticed. Adam was slightly confused by the once center of attention girl, the way she hide her face from view and slouched in her seat. Julie shifted uncomfortably in the old wooden booth, trying to remain unnoticed and sat her purse down in the corner, never looking at him in the time she was getting adjusted. His eyes scanned her with suspicion, wondering what she was hiding and she looked down, avoiding his questioning eyes. She didn't have answers to share so why invite the scrutiny. He knew her too well for her to lie and she didn't want to in the first place, so why bother. She'd almost always been honest with him except for the fight that broke them up. She would regret that day for the rest of her life. She didn't want to think about that though, she didn't want to think about any of the mistakes she'd made that had led her to this point. She only wanted a few minutes with Adam to pretend it was okay and that she could just go back to her life tomorrow and forget she'd ever seen him.

"So how have you been?" He asked, sitting quietly across from her, his hands resting firmly on the edge of the table. Her eyes scanned the marble floor instead of his current stance and she thought of reasons not to look at him, not to answer his question. The first being her husband's unknown wareabouts and his possible interruption of the conversation. She'd hate to have to explain how she ended up having coffee with her ex-boyfriend while she was supposed to be waiting for him. She quickly thought up a common response to fill the silence of her reply.

"Fine, really...fine.." She said trying her fake smile on again. It wasn't really working, Adam noticed it didn't reach her eyes the way it used to. In reality, she wasn't fine at all, she was sick to her stomach with worry over Greg finding them like this. She worried that he'd know she had been doing something she wasn't supposed to, or worse, that Adam would know that she was lying and that he'd try to stop Greg. His eyes met hers as she looked up for the first time to study his face and his jaw tightened at the look he received. _Was he angry with her already? Did he know she was lying?_ She wondered, softly biting her lip in contemplation. She took notice, hoping the conversation didn't go beyond such small talk, she couldn't bear to deceive him more than she already had. She wanted him to believe she was okay and just continue back to whatever life he had waiting for him. Little did she know the absence of a life he had. The waitress came over after a couple minutes and took their order, Julie ordering a small coffee, black, the cheapest thing on the menu and he, a small French latte, close to the most expensive. She chuckled internally at their choices but Julie couldn't risk Greg noticing that she'd spent any money besides gas to get to the airport. Adam had always sought the best when it came to coffee, she remembered ordering for them one day at the Starbucks on campus and being mortified on the cost of two coffees the way Adam preferred them.

The space was silently for a few moments after the waitress left, leaving behind a lingering scent of vanilla. Adam watched her carefully before he moved his hand unto the table, positioning it to reach out for hers. Julie stared at it for a minute, wondering if he would try to touch her hand again. She wasn't sure if she could take anymore contact today without her walls breaking down. The walls she'd worked so hard to construct around her heart to keep her safe. She silently watched him flex his fingers in anticipation before he started to move it across the table to take hers. He felt the wooden table fall beneath his palm when he rested his hand on the other side of the table. She had seen him coming and moved her hands to her lap before staring intently at them with no intention of looking elsewhere. She wondered about a cut on her palm, trying to remember if that was from the cracked picture frame she had tried to block when it was thrown at her the week before or the glass on the kitchen floor she had been thrown down in. Her mind wondered away, not paying attention to the man in front of her until he cleared his throat to get her attention. She looked up at his eyes again and a warmth spread through her body that she hadn't felt in years. She wrapped her arms about her waist to hold in the feeling before she broke the contact and continued to examine the floor.

Now was not the time to sit and remember the past, the past she so wanted to be in again. A time where she had never heard the name Greg Williams or possessed the fear that went along with it. She silently cursed herself for mentally disobeying him, he was her husband, she wasn't supposed to think about him in a negative way. He didn't mean the way he was and he always apologized for it after and told her how much he loved her. It didn't make the wounds hurt any less but at least she was able to hold onto something to keep the pain at bay. Greg had warned her about disobeying him, her mind again worrying of his upcoming presence. She glancing around nervously at the other people in the cafe. _What if someone he knew saw her here? What if someone just mentioned it casually in conversation with Greg?_ It's not like it would be the first time he caught her in a lie and made her pay for it. like the time she had said she was going out for milk and never came home. When he had caught up to her two towns over, the broken cheekbone had reminded her for weeks not to lie to him. _Maybe it wouldn't be so bad this time, maybe he could change back to the man she had loved. Maybe if she continued to hope for that, it would erase the past 3 years and over a hundred beatings she'd endured_, she silently hoped. She would always have hope that something would get better, it was the only thing she had left.

"You want to tell me what's going on?" He asked, bring her from her thoughts again, his hand slowly retreating back across the table from hers. He wasn't going to push the subject or make her retreat into her shell. She'd done that a few times today and he wasn't getting anywhere.

"Nothing.." She said a little too fast for him to believe. "Why would you think something's going on?" Her eyes told him a different story as she stared at him, hoping beyond hope he'd believe her and leave the conversation alone. He had to believe her, nothing else would do at this point. She had no options left, no cards left to play. Her eyes pleaded with him for something, Adam had no idea what. So he changed the subject as not to upset her, he only wanted to talk to her and spend a few more minutes in her presence.

"I like your hair.." He casually said, resisting the urge to reach out and brush the stray piece from in front of her face to behind her ear as he would have normally done six years before. She looked at him with confusion. It had been a necessity to change her hair after Greg had told her he preferred red hair to blonde. What Greg wanted he got. Her eyes tried to determine what game Adam might be playing in his line of questioning. A moment before she had felt like he was grilling her for information and now he was telling her something completely unexpected. She let a small smile play on her lips at his randomness and he smiled back, knowing he had reached her on some level. She wanted to talk to him, he could tell but something was holding her back from speaking her mind the way she would have years before.

A small ping of guilt sat in her chest as she continued to smile, Greg would be so mad if he heard someone say something like that to her. He would have blamed her, said she instigated it and just wanted to cheat on him like the lying whore she was. Her face turned into a frown at the thought, her lips forming the only words to come to mind as she reached up to touch the unnatural hair that belonged to someone else.

"Thanks.." She whispered, playing with a small lock before letting it go after her contemplation and glancing back at the door as if she'd temporarily forgot why she was still here.

He sighed, for a moment it was her instead of this woman that sat in front of him, a statue in place of his Julie. She had been there, she had smiled at him if but for a brief moment in time. The waitress returned with their coffees, Julie backing up to receive hers, Adam smiled graciously at the waitress for breaking the silence before she left, promising to return with more sugar if needed.

"I really do, I've missed you Jules." He confiding, feeling if maybe he shared something with her and tried to let her in, she'd do the same for him. No such luck, he was afraid as she seemed to only close up more on herself

"I really haven't thought about you, Adam.." She lied, brushing a piece of hair from her face, her eyes retreating back to the door. _What if he got off the plane and she wasn't there? What would she tell him, she got lost, she couldn't find the right gate?_

"I should be going.." She said immediately, feeling the fear creep up her spine. She quickly grabbed her purse to leave some money on the table before sliding to the end of the booth. It was nice to see him but he was only a long distance memory that kept her living. The hope that maybe someday she could find that kind of love again was the only thing keeping her sane. That maybe someday all the pain and hurt would stop and she could feel like she was whole again and that she was where she was loved again by the person she was with. She would sometimes dream of a time when he would come and save her, finally ending her torture but it simply wasn't that simple in real life.

"Hey! Wait!" He laughed a little, grabbing her arm as she stood from the table. She wasn't paying attention to where his hands flew before she felt a shooting pain envelope her entire arm, emerging from her bruised bicep. She cried out in anguish so the few people in the coffee shop turned to look in their direction. She hadn't meant to be so loud but the pain had been unbearable without touching it, to touch it only intensified the throbbing.

He let go quickly and glanced at the other people in the shop, their eyes trained on him. A few stopped to stare with a look of hate in their eyes, as if he had hurt Julie. His Julie... He could never hurt her, he would never hurt her, how could anyone think that if they knew what she meant to him. He didn't mean to grab so hard, she was so delicate... His thoughts stopped in mid thought and he stared back at her in disbelief. No one was that tender unless they were a wimp, which Adam could never call Julie. She was the strongest woman he had ever met. He'd seen guys get hard checked into the glass and not reacted the way she had from an injury. The other option caused goose bumps to rise on the back of his neck. _Was she already hurt?_ He wondered as he stared at her. She tried to compose herself, holding in the tears that threatened to shed and pretend it had never happened. She hadn't reacted so foolishly to let her secret out, she just needed to smooth over the reaction and be on her way. She needed to get out of here and she need to do it fast before he started asking questions as to why she had cried out. She tried to numb her mind to the pain and reached for her purse.

"I'm sorry, you scared me... I wasn't looking at where you were." She tried to laugh it off, straightening her shirt. "I really should go..." She said feeling the tears that were brimming on her eyelids retreat at her command. She couldn't let even one tear fall, he would know. His arm pulled back to his side and she stood up to leave again, not meeting his eyes. Adam quickly threw the remaining amount of the bill down and a gracious tip before following her as fast as he could towards the door and out into the busy terminal. She was half way down the hall before he caught her, turning her to him to look at her face when he asked her his questions. She pushed him away with a force he remembered, it would not be the first time their fight had ended in a shoving match.

"Banks! Just stay away from me, alright! I don't need your help, I don't need you to be the knight in shining armor. I just want you to go!" She told him sternly, pushing against his chest. The anger she felt for Greg was boiling up on her and she needed to release it somehow, fighting with him was how she choose to do it. If Greg found out any of this, there would be hell to pay and she would not take that punishment without leaving some of it with Adam.

Adam was taken aback by her sudden outburst of emotion. He questioned his tactics. _Was he being too forceful? Jumping to unsupported conclusions about her relationship with her Husband?_ His thoughts were interrupted as he tried to hold her to him and stop her shoving. The PA system stopped their struggle, announcing that the weather was lifting just enough for a few planes to arrive and that flight 1003 would be arriving at gate 52 in a few short minutes.

_That was Greg's flight_, her mind went into overdrive. Julie's eyes darted to the board as his flight changed from red to green, he would be here any minute, she had to get rid of Adam. She pulled away from his grip and stood a few inches away from him.

"Julie, just tell me what's going on? We're still friends, right?" He questioned. She felt her heart rate speed up as she glanced between the gate and Adam's questioning eyes. He was on his way, she needed to be ready. Adam needed to go now before Greg saw him. Her thoughts were going a mile a minute as she tried to figure out what to do. A lie came to mind, the only thing she could do to get him to go.

"Adam, look, please just go. It was an old hockey injury... you know..." She tried to sound like it was no big deal and that he would understand an old injury, he had a bunch of them, one particularly on the left side of his rib cage where he had stopped a puck for her in their freshman year. Her eyes wondered to the spot under his shirt. She didn't need to see it to know right where it was.

"No, it's been years since you played. I don't understand what's going on here... Julie you can tell me anything." He pushed her to tell him, determined to not leave if she needed him. He felt his chest tightening, he wouldn't leave her the way he had before, he swore it to himself. He wouldn't let her push him away when she needed him again. He reached for her only to have her back up.

"We haven't even talked, yet. I don't know anything that's going on with you. What about your husband? I want to meet him.." Adam suggested. Maybe he was behind this change in her. He wanted to see this guy and judge for himself if he was the cause of this anxious Julie. _Was he the kind of man that would hurt Julie? His Julie?_ He didn't know much about the guy. The other Ducks had been cautious of his feelings for Julie and had never mentioned him in their conversations with Adam. He had appreciated it at first but now he wondered.

"No! Adam.." She stammered for a reason that he needed to go right now. She needed to make something up fast and get away from him. Luck must have been on her side as the PA system came on again.

"Attention, flight 347, non-stop to New York is now boarding at gate 47. All passengers holding first class tickets please prepare to board now." The female voice announced. Adam's face went dark.

"Shit!" He swore, grabbing his ticket from his pocket to verify the flight number. He already knew it by heart but was hoping he was wrong. "Julie, just tell me what's going on!" He pleaded with her. He needed to have a clear conscience before he left her. Her face remained stern and uncaring as she glared at him. She would not make this his problem, she owed him at least that much.

"Julie?" He questioned once more before giving up at his third attempt to comfort her and her pulling away. He didn't want to leave this way, he had left this way before, with her mad and not speaking to him. He wanted things to be okay between them. Her eyes shifted back to the flight board as she wondered how close Greg was now. He sighed, knowing he wouldn't get through to her. If there was one thing that remained the same about Julie it was her stubbornness. He sighed, picking up his bag from where he had dropped it on the floor in his pursue of the woman standing in front of him. Her purse, that he had knocked out of her hand, lay next to it, it's contents spilled out on the floor from the last time he had tried to grab her.

"I'm sorry...For everything, Jules." He whispered, meaning not only today but the years before too. He silently handed her purse back to her after pushing everything back into the soft leather pouch. She only looked at his hands as she took the bag and turned to leave. He watched her walk away, his mind drifted back to a memory he held onto...

_15 year old Julie Gaffney stood in front of the locker room mirror adjusting her beautiful blonde hair for the 5th time since she emerged from the girls shower room a few minutes before. He sat on the bench behind her, not saying a word, just taping his wrist that seemed not to want to heal. Tonight was a memory he would keep forever, tonight they had beat the varsity warriors, tonight he had realized that he was in love with Julie Gaffney and tonight, Scooter had kissed her. Sure, Adam had no rights to Julie, in the two years he had known her, he had never once attempted to tell her he might have feelings for her other than friendship, that he might just be in love with her. As she stood in front of him fixing her hair for the 6th time, he wondered if he should say something, anything to keep her here with him, keep her in this room and away from the 17 year old goalie who was waiting just outside the locker room door to take her out for sodas. His heart thumped in his chest when she finally realized he'd been staring at her, the only two left in the locker room. Their eyes met in the mirror and she studied his expression before she smiled and turned to face him, her body leaning against the sink that hung from the wall behind her. _

_"Adam, why aren't you out with the other guys celebrating?" She smirked still playing with her hair, this time in a nervous fashion__._

_"I should ask you the same thing, catlady. And fixing your hair of all things.." He laughed, getting up from the bench to turn away from her and avoid her questioning eyes. He could feel his heart still pounding with nervousness in his chest. _

_"You guys forget I'm still a girl!" She said, coming up at his side in a moment and he tensed up, looking down at her. This was it, he could feel it, he had to say something or he'd regret it all his life. Her face changed from playful to serious as his stare became intense on her._

_"I know you're a girl, Julie." He whispered just so she could hear it. Her eyes widen a little; a nervous laugh escaping her lips. _

_"You know, if I didn't know you better cake-eater, I'd think you were hitting on me.." She turned away nervously, heading for her own locker two over and faced away from him. He didn't laugh, he didn't smile, he just kept his attention on her as she placed her hairbrush on the top shelf and took out her sweater for the brisk fall air outside. When she didn't hear him respond she turned on her heels to look at him. He was standing in front of her; his face was so close to hers, she could feel his breathe on the crook of her neck. __**Was this really Adam? The boy who defended her against Portman for calling her babe.**__ She thought, his arms almost coming up to circle her. He slowly moved his hand to her wrist, not really her hand but close enough to be the first move for him. Her eyes glanced down at the movement and followed his arm up to his shoulder and then to his eyes._

_"Adam?" She questioned as he stared down at her. __**It's now or never, Banks, just hope she doesn't hate you after..**__.__ he thought in his head as he leaned down, moving inches from her lips with his. He stopped just centimeters from her mouth and looked into her eyes for reassurance he was doing this right. Her eyes looked up from his lips to his eyes again and she moved to press her lips against his. The moment seemed to last forever as they fought for air to keep the kiss going. They finally broke apart in search of oxygen and Adam realized she was in his arms, fingers laced with his in one hand and the other at the base of his head, pressing his lips to hers. His other hand at the small of her back pulling her to him. The kiss had been incredible, everything he dreamed it would be from the moment he met Julie Gaffney but the reality hit him and he stared down at her for answers. __**What did this all mean, we they together, was she mad at him, what would they do about Scooter standing outside the door?**__ Her chest was moving up and down for air as her gaze was on his shoulder contemplating the same questions__._

_"Julie?" He asked softly to get her attention, she quickly looked up at him and smiled._

_"I've been wanting to do that for a while." She confided, reaching for his lips again, and bringing them crashing down on her own. He smiled against the embrace, forgetting about the senior varsity goalie standing outside the door. _

"Greg!" Her voice rang out in the distance and brought him back to the present. Julie ran into the arms of a tall well-build man with dark hair and dark eyes. From where Adam was standing they looked like any happy couple embracing after a long time away from each other. Maybe he was just jealous, she was happy and he was still alone. He picked up his bags from the floor, one of which had also been dumped in the process of chasing her through the terminal and turned to walk to his boarding gate. He had to let her go, this chance meeting had just made it worse, made him want her back more but he had to move on. Knowing she had just made it worse and he held his stomach, momentarily thinking he might vomit.

He turned to walk away and she felt her heart break, she had pushed him away again, she knew but it didn't make it easier to let go of the last hope she had. Greg's arms loosened around her waist and she was facing him, a smile plastered on her face to make him believe she was happy in their marriage.

"How was your flight?" She asked, trying to sound as cheerful as she could.

"Terrible, the food sucked and then I got stuck in some crappy little town in Nebraska. I tried to call you but I assumed you had left to come and get me." Julie nodded in agreement.

"I've been here for a while now... If I had a cell phone..." She started but his glare made her stop. It had been discussed before and only led to her nose being broken and an accusation of cheating. He nodded at her submission, picking up one of his bags from the luggage belt.

"You want to get the other two?" He asked without looking to her, carrying his bag for the door closest to them. Julie nodded, picking up one bag and then trying to retrieve the other bag with her sore arm. She fought through the pain and took a deep breath following him from the airport and out into the cold Minnesota air.

"Is this 24c?" Adam asked, pointing to the seat in front of him. The man, a middle aged man in a suit, already seated one seat over nodded, looking up from his magazine. Adam sighed before he sat down, putting his carry on in the seat between them for a moment while he took off his coat to get adjusted.

"Say, you're that hockey player!" The man exclaimed " Adam Banks!" He practically yelled. Adam nodded with a small smile and pulled his bag to his chest, in search of his headphones and phone, he didn't feel like dealing with people right now, he would just simply sleep his way back to NYC.

"I thought that was you in the coffee shop but I didn't want to intrude. Was that your girlfriend with you?" He questioned.

"No." Adam stated blankly, still digging for his damn headphones, _why could he never find anything when he needed them?_

"Oh, Sister?" He questioned. Adam stopped digging, getting annoyed with the questions of an eager fan.

"No! Look she was an old friend I ran into. Not that it's any of your business." He usually didn't even grace people with an answer about his love life but he was just annoyed with this guy's constant baggering. He man didn't even look fazed by Adam's rudeness.

"Oh, she looked about a stage three." The man said without a blink of the eye. Adam's attention on finding his headphones was diverted to the man sitting next to him, wondering what he was talking about.

"A what?" He asked, almost snapping at him again.

"Oh, sorry, you work with these cases for so long, you know, you start to always talk like you're at work all the time." The man mumbled on about his work lingo for a moment before Adam stopped him.

"Sir, please just tell me what you mean.." Adam said putting his hand up to stop the conversation.

"I mean a stage three trauma. I work at a safe house for abused women and children. Your old friend was defiantly acting like a stage three. Antsy, overly cautious, and probably bruised. Though I personally don't know her or have talked to her, so it just might be the way she acts all the time. You know people are funny. A stage three is separated from her friends and usually changes her hair and her personality. She could seem like a different person overnight. I'm sure that's not the case with your friend." He joked a little. Adam stopped and turned to stare at the fabric on the back of the seat in front of him. He knew something was wrong and his gut had told him to push but he had let her down again. Before he could even think about anything else he was out of his seat and heading for the door. He would not let her down for a third time.


	3. Chapter 3

The snow was blinding, blowing against the building as it fell and creating a thick curtain of white preventing Adam's eyes from scanning the parking lot. Where was she? He couldn't have been on that plane for more than 5 minutes. Was that long enough for her to disappear again? Disappear with _him_, Adam's stomach knotted with worry, what if that man on the plane was right? What if his gut feeling had been right? He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he left her here, alone and scared. Was he just feeling guilty for leaving her the first time and it was clouding his ability to see the differences between right and wrong? He knew he hadn't imaged her behavior. He hoped he wasn't losing his mind, he needed to focus on finding her as quickly as possible and getting the answers he needed.

_The dorms was cold and vacant, all the doors shut and locked. It was Valentine's Day weekend, 18 year old Adam Banks reasoned, holding unto the flowers in his hand tighter as he walked down the hall towards her door. His chest was tight and beating fast with anticipation. How was he supposed to tell her his news, especially this weekend? How was he going to break her heart when all he had been planning to do this weekend was spend every waking minute with the most beautiful girl in the world, enjoying being her boyfriend. Scratch that, every minute both sleeping and awake with the most beautiful girl in the world, showing how much they loved each other. He'd been planning since Christmas, like most of the guys, what he would have planned for this weekend. A calm collected weekend at his parents summer cabin up north, just the two of them and the roaring fire to keep them warm. It was the perfect little romantic getaway for two, that was until he received the letter he had casually tucked between the folds of his chemistry textbook the day earlier. __**How can they make him choose, it just wasn't right or fair!**__ His mental argument was interrupted as the last member of the team remaining at the dorms exited his room. Fulton Reed fumbled with his keys to the dorm room he was now sharing with Portman, dropping the small objects to the ground before cursing and picking them up again to lock the door. Adam could tell he was nervous as he fumbled with the small lock before turning towards him. _

_"Hey, Fulton...You off to get the princess?" Adam questioned, a small smile playing on his lips._

_"Hah, Ha, very funny.. You know if Tammy heard you talking about her that way she'd kick your ass." Fulton remarking, placing his keys into his jacket pocket and bring a dozen red roses up into view. _

_"Expensive, planning on a big weekend?"Adam questioned raising his eyebrows in jest. _

_"Kind of.. We're going up to that ski resort, even though half the team is already up there.." He sighed heavy in defeat. "I just wanted a weekend with just the two of us." He sighed._

_"Hey, at least you'll have Charlie and Guy to hang with while Connie, Linda, and Tammy go to the spa.." Adam joked. Fulton slumped his shoulders. Boy, Adam did not wish to be him at that point. It's kind of ironic that half the team planned to take their girlfriends to this one ski lodge for the Valentine's weekend and everyone was so tight lipped about their plan that no one knew until yesterday that they'd be spending the weekend at the same place._

_"Yeah..." He grumbled again heading in the direction of the exit without looking in Adam's direction again. Adam stood in that spot staring down the hall to the last door on the right for a few more minutes, how was he supposed to go in there? Sure, he loved her and he was pretty sure she loved him too but how was he suppose to break the news? The start of Fulton's motorcycle outside brought him back to reality and he shook the thought away, heading for her door, a determination in his step to not be detoured from his objective. He stepped in front of the door and stared at the message board that hung from outside, a small way for Julie and Connie to communicate when they weren't able to see each other in person. The latest note read,_

_"Gone for the weekend, See you Monday! Hugs, Connie." Adam smiled to himself, Julie hadn't written back yet, which was a sign she was still packing inside the room. He tapped lightly on the solid wood door frame and stepped back to wait. The room was quiet for a moment before there were light footsteps and the handle turned to let him in. _

_"Jules?" He questioned as he pushed the door open further to see the long-haired beauty standing at the mirror brushing her still wet hair._

_"You're early...I thought you said six..." She mumbled, catching his eye through the mirror. Adam glanced at her clock and back at his watch, same time, 15 minutes early. Oh well, it was better not to wait to tell her, he supposed with a sigh. _

_"I know, I just need to talk to you about something, Jules." He said, a grumble in his voice. Her body tensed a little and she set her hairbrush down on the oak dresser with a click, turning to look at him. __**Adam never got upset so this had to be big**__, she silently thought, trying to catch his eye._

_"What's going on?" She asked, coming to stand in front of him. Adam sighed, sitting down on the end of her bed. "We're still going, right?" She asked, a look of worry on her face, wondering if he was breaking up with her. Why she did not know but onlythat seemed to be worthy of the look that was on his face._

_"I hope so..." He whispered quietly, wondering if they would still be together after this conversation. Would they stay together until the end of the year and then split or just call it quits now and wish each other the best. He ran a hand through his hair still not bringing himself to say it._

_"So what's going on?" She asked again, this time sitting next to him and taking his hand in hers. He watched silently as she traced circles in his palm with her index finger in a calming fashion. _

_"Jules, I got a letter from the New Jersey Devils yesterday. Their scout was out a few weeks ago to take a look at me during the game. They want me to play for them. Like a salary and everything and i can still go to school." He looked up at her face for a reaction and at first it seemed like she was trying to take it all in. Just as fast as he had thought she would start screaming at him and crying that they meant more than hockey, she was in his arms screaming with glee._

_"New Jersey! Adam, that's so great!" Her voice was filled with excitement. He smiled a little and wrapped his arms around her, taking in her sweet scent. "When do you have to be there? In the fall for the new season?" She was asking a million questions at once, backing her head up to look at his face and get the full story._

_"No,...I have to be there by July 1st." He said looking down at his hands. Julie's face changed from a smile to a slight half smile. She wouldn't let that change her happiness for him, she would never hold him back. _

_"Okay, So you're going to go right?" She smiled again with questioning eyes, only hoping for the best for him__._

_"I don't want to go unless you go with me.." His voice was solemn, his eyes turned down. The light left her face slightly, the possibility of going with him seemed like a dream but something she hadn't planned on__._

_"Adam, I'm already enrolled for the fall semester at Minnesota U. Everyone's going.__..__ I can't just apply to a school in NY now, I mean. They're probably already full." She really did want to go but it seemed like a hopeless cause to try to look for schools now. Sure with her grades she's definately get in but the semester was only a few short months away. His eyes glanced down, "Everyone but you.. Adam, look we'll be fine. Nothing's going to change, I'll still be me when you get back." She smiled warmly at him. __**Was it possible to have a long distance relationship with her, was it possible that they could still love each other after all this was over?**__ He hoped so as the lump in his throat began to subside and he tried to smile. He'd been dreading this moment for the past two days but maybe they would be alright. He wrapped his arms around her securely and pulled her close to hug her to him. _

_"You worry too much, cake-eater." She giggled into his chest. "Besides how could I possible love anyone as much as I love you." She smiled, her eyes looking up at him from her spot in his arms__.__ He almost didn't catch the last bit but his heart skipped a beat at her admission. She knew she was threading in unknown territory by saying she loved him so her eyes cast down before he moved his finger to lift her chin. She'd said it, she'd said she loved him even if it was in a joking manner. He let his eyes respond to her in a tender moment then stood quickly to avoid a response__,_

_"So you ready, let's get out of here." He said pulling her towards the door. He'd never been go at expressing his feelings. His Father was not one to show emotion so to say that Adam was emotionally crippled would be an understatement. Julie knew this and understood, playfully poking his side._

_"Adam! I need to get my bag.." She laughed pulling back on him and reaching for the duffle bag that sat on her bed. She quickly slug it over her shoulder and turned off the lights to darken the room for the night before closing the door behind her. _

A soft, cold snowflakes landing on Adam's eye lid reminded him, he was standing alone in the cold of the airport parking lot without her anywhere in sight. _Where would he even start,_ he tried to reason. He had no idea where she lived or who to ask. he'd been gone for so long, it was hard to tell if the Ducks would even want to talk to him. The last day he'd left he hadn't really been nice to any of them, slamming doors and ignoring goodbyes. He was alone in this.

He felt the ground shake a little as his would-be plane to New York took off over his head and in its quake, the snow that had been falling peacefully from the sky came crashing down on him. Adam quickly covered his eyes and turned his head down towards the ground to avoid the gust. That's when he saw it, if he hadn't have looked down he never would have. A small object tucked in the front pocket of his carry on, cover by a little snow, at his feet. He couldn't mistake the small leather wallet if he tried. Reaching for it, he prayed that it was hers and not someone else's that had been mixed up with his stuff in his rush to get off the plane. Flipping open the heavy flap that secured it shut, he breathed a sigh of relief, there staring back at him was her face, the bright black lettering of her address placed next to it on his Minnesota issued ID. Adam was never one to be a believer in signs but maybe he should start, he thought as his hand flew up in the air to hail a taxi making its way through the heavy snow. He backed up to avoid being splashed by its tires and quickly opened the door to get in and out of the cold.

The ride home from the airport had been slow and silent. Julie stared out the window, thoughts of Adam still remaining in her memory as she wondered what her life might have become if she had stayed with him. A small sting in her arm caused her to move her hand to the spot, unconsciously, her hand rubbing at it mindlessly as she watched the landscape pass by her closed window. It was hell to get those bags to the car but she'd never complain. Greg didn't like complainers, he would always come home from work yelling about complainers at his job and then suddenly it became her fault. Everything was her fault bur maybe she deserved it in the end for not being a better wife and understanding his reasons for her failures. His hand reached out causing her to jump and turn to look at him. It covered her own and rested on her arm in the spot that hurt the most.

"You know, I'm sorry about that. it's just if things were done right the first time we wouldn't have so many problems." He reasoned, rubbing gently against her hand. She tried to smile for him, it usually helped in calming his mood. She really didn't want to fight tonight, the airport had been emotionally draining for her as it was and she almost wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for a year. He returned her smile, bring his hand back to the steering wheel and turning his eyes back to the road in front of them. He always apologized and things would be better for a few hours, sometimes it was days but not lately. He worked so hard at his job, it must be stressful, so why not allow him to vent to her, even if she was left with the injuries for days after. She tried not to think of such things about her husband, Greg would never intentionally take it out on her, he loved her, he really did, he just expressed it differently than anyone else. He loved her, she was sure of it, no matter what anyone else thought. Glancing over at him again, a smile formed on his lips and she tried to smile back but her thoughts were drifting elsewhere, he could be the sweetest person in the world sometimes but he could also be the one man she feared the most. The snow broke a little and their house came into view. It was a good sized house with large windows and a balcony that sat up on a hill to give it the best view in the county. Julie had to admit, when it came to material goods, she was not left wanting but it always come at a price. Greg pulled the car into the garage, closing the door with the car remote hooked to the visor and stepped out into the cold air. Julie reached to her side to grab her purse, grabbing the sack and pulling it to her lap. it felt strangely light so she glanced inside to see her wallet missing. She internally groaned and hoped she hadn't been pick pocketed at the airport. She reached down next to her and felt the cool leather seat instead of the small cream colored wallet. Searching the floor and around the seat, the wallet was nowhere in sight, _what had she done with it?_ She mused before Greg's voice cut into her thought.

"Julie?" His questioning voice caused her to look up from her search,

"Coming!" She called back quickly, forgetting about the possession, she'd come back out later to look for it, rather than cause him to become angry with her. Stepping out of the car, he was at her side, staring down at her with his dark eyes. A cold chill enveloped her body and she shook involuntarily at his gaze, trying to let a playful smile play on her lips to give her a sense of submission. _Was he mad already?_ She asked herself.

"What's going on?" He asked suspiciously, looking to the car behind her and down at her purse as it hung from her shoulder. She adjusted the strap nervously.

"Nothing, just had to grab my purse." She turned quickly to avoid his piercing gaze to retrieve his bags from the trunk before he would ask any other questions.

"Is everything alright with you?" His eyes were intense when they met hers over the silver car roof. _He knew_, the hot feeling of fear entered her chest without warning, _he knew somehow she had been with Adam. But how, no one was there. Okay,_ she silently told herself_, just stay calm and he'll back off, he feeds off your weakness__._

"Yes, I'm just tired from the drive." She assured, coming to place her hand on his arm. His eyes softened a small amount, just enough to allow her to let out the breathe she had been holding in her burning lungs. He nodded, satisfied with her answer beforebheading into the house through the garage door. Julie watching him go before closing her eyes to let herself relax and breathe in a deep breath. _She had to watch her reactions or she'd let her secret out quickly__._ Closing the trunk with a click, her thoughts drifted elsewhere once again. _Maybe if he was still in a good mood later, she'd ask him if they could order out instead of her cooking dinner_. On most nights she wouldn't even think to ask but he seemed just as tired as she was tonight from his trip. Maybe he'd be lineate,. If not she'd probably have a black eye tomorrow. Grabbing his bags from the ground she slowly moved them into the house, keeping her right arm at her side the whole time.

Had it really been this long since Adam had been back to Minnesota that he couldn't find his way around. It had been tough enough to find a car rental business that was still open with the weather, not to mention that the only car they had left was a small Volkswagen beetle that was totally overpriced and reminded him of his first car, the one he had taken Julie to the prom in. The snow was still coming down thick but his mind was set on finding Julie and at least making sure she was alright. The small car hummed with the pressure Adam was putting on the gas and it slowly crept up the hill towards the top. He hoped it wouldn't stall out and roll back down, he hadn't had very much driving activities in the past couple years, being driven around most of the time, so if the car went backwards his confidence was pretty slim in controlling it. The sun was setting just over the hill and Adam sighed, it was going to be a long night and there was no way he was going to find her in the dark when he couldn't even see three feet in front of him. Besides it would look too suspicious for him to show up at her house in the middle of the night, even if her husband wasn't doing what he thought. Weighing his options he finally decided to find a hotel and use his laptop to find a route to her address. The thought entered his mind to call the other Ducks and see if they could help him out but he's only had Fulton and Charlie's numbers and he hadn't talked to either of them since his first year in New York. The remote possibility of either of them knowing how to get to Julie's house was very slim, if anyone would know Connie would, so maybe he'd try to find her number. A small road side motel was coming up on his left and he decided to just stop there for the night, the weather was suppose to break in the morning and he'd hopefully have a better idea of how to find Julie by then.

The soft murmur of the television on in the living room was a relaxing reminder that Greg was full from the take out they had ordered and was silently now enjoying a football game on ESPN. Julie had just finished putting the dishes away and cleaning up the take-out left-over items when her missing wallet entered her mind. The leather satchel lay on the counter in the kitchen by she knew the inside contents were empty. She surveying the closed entrance to the garage, _should she risk going to look for it now or wait until he went to sleep? No, he'd probably want her to go to sleep at the same time so he knew where she was and he'd take the car for work the next day, if she wanted to get it, it would have to be now._ A soft sigh of frustration that his team was losing let Julie know he was completely into the game. She quickly hung the drying towel she'd clutched in her hands on the rack and grabbed the car keys from the hook, moving towards the door. _Hopefully he wouldn't even notice she was gone if she made it quick_. The lock for the door clicked in her hands and she froze waiting to see if he would say anything. When no sound came from the other room she pressed the door open just enough for her to slip though, leaving the door open a bit to watch for Greg. The car was cold as she leaned against it to find the right key to unlock the driver's side door and creep inside. The search was slow, Julie being meticulous in not making any noise but the object was nowhere in sight. Could _she have left it at the airport?_ She'd had it when she left Adam at the coffee shop, so somewhere between then and when she got in the car. It was possible for her to replace her cards but to take care of it without Greg finding out, Julie sighed in defeat. Stepping back out to the cold night air of the garage, she closed the door and locked it again, turning to return to the house when she ran into a wall, causing her to step back. The black dress shirt and black dress slacks sent a cold shiver down her shipe and she moved her eyes slowly up his torso. First following the button up to his neck opening, then his tightened jaw line, to which she cringed and finally to his piercing dark eyes, staring back at her. She was in big trouble.

_So the motel wasn't the Ritz but Adam had been in worse in his days_, he thought typing away at his laptop . The dim light from the night stand shined unto his screen and he closed it slowly, admitting he was never going to get a map to such a remote location it the wilderness. He didn't even know where he was really, just what the card on the night stand said. You think with the amount of people that had fawned over him when he checked in that someone would be willing to help him but no, they were all tight lipped or just didn't really know. Looking at his half drunken can of Pepsi on the table, he stared at his small Verizon wireless flip-phone. _Did he even have any accurate numbers anymore?_ He decided that it was his best bet and flipped the small device open to search for a number. Beth, Brittany, Carmen, Charlie, his red line highlighted the name and Adam took a breath. He hadn't talked to any of them in forever, how would they take him calling them out of the blue. _Would they want to help or just blow him off like he had them for the past 5 years._ He shook his head and closed the phone, he could do this without them. He knew he could, but would he risk the safety of Julie on his pigheaded selfish ego, throwing all that to the side, he opened his phone again and pressed the button before he could second guess himself. The phone rang twice before Adam could bring himself to lift it to his ear. The third ring sounded and his mind screamed reasons to hang up, maybe this wasn't the right number, maybe he wasn't home anyway, maybe he didn't want to be bothered. Before he could hang up, a female voice came on the line.

"Hello?" He cleared his throat with a soft groan and gathered his courage,

"Yes, is Charlie there?" The line was silent and his self-doubts came flooding back.

"Who can I say is calling?" She asked sweetly; a little too sweet if you asked him for a complete stranger.

"Adam...Adam Banks..." He bite at his lip to wait for the response. Would he take the call? There was no reason for him not to, the line was silent again before a cough on the other end signaled the phone had been passed to a male voice.

"Hello?" His voice hadn't changed and Adam sighed a little in relief,

"Charlie, it's Adam. I need your help."


	4. Chapter 4

It was still snowing the next morning, the puffy white flakes falling gracefully to the ground just outside the large window at the end of the hall. Julie sat on the floor of her vacant home, quietly picking up the pieces of the broken glass picture frames that used to line the hallway walls leading to the bedrooms. One picture of their wedding day, one picture of their honeymoon, and one picture from last Christmas that Greg thought he looked good in now lay shattered in glass on the hardwood floor. Julie gingerly moved the broken frames into a pile before continuing to sweep and pick up pieces with her bare hands. If she didn't get every piece up and Greg stepped on one, she'd be hurting more than she was now and gloves didn't allow her enough movement to get it all. The glass stuck under her nails and left small cuts and slivers but the pain was nothing compared to last night. Looking up from her daunting task, her hair covered the bruises now beginning to form on her left cheek from Greg's unblockable backhand. Her hair held some blood residue she was unable to wash away and her body ached from the abuse. He had become angry with her the night before because he thought she had been hiding something from him. Maybe she did deserve it, she hadn't told him she'd lost her wallet until he slammed her against the wall, nearly breaking every bone in her body. She was now seated at the bottom of that very wall, looking to the indentation her body had left in the sheetrock. The vibration for the jolt had caused all the pictures to come to a crash landing on the hardwood floor below and angering him more. She sighed, slowly retracing the events of the prior night over in her mind again. At least he hadn't found out about Adam, she could be thankful for that. Sitting back on her heels, she wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her head on them. How many more times would he do this, how many more time did she have before he finally just killed her in an angry rage? Maybe it would be a blessing, at least she wouldn't have to live this way anymore, at least she wouldn't have to face the shame and disgrace of her family if it ever came out how screwed up her life had become. Slowly standing from her position, she collected the paper towels of broken glass and dumped them in the garbage can around the corner before bending again to collect the pictures that had broken. Running her finger down the lifeless face of her husband on their wedding day, she placed the stack of framed photos on the kitchen counter, as she entered. She'd have to get new glass for them eventually but it would have to wait. He had been back to the sweet Greg she knew this morning, apologizing for the event and promising to do better, the sad thing was that she almost still believed him. The window she glanced out of had fogged over, preventing Julie from looking out but there was no movement to speak of anyway, unless you counted the falling snow as signs of life. Julie had never felt so alone in her entire life, she was always been surrounded by her family and then by at least one of the Ducks, every minute of her day. She was loved, now she wasn't so sure.

Adam rolled over in the tangled motel sheets from his sleepless night and let out a loud sigh, letting his arms fall out to his sides and away from his chest. His eyes transfixed on the ceiling and counted the specs of dirt as his contemplated what he would have to do today. It was 11 am already, or so the clock on the bedside table informed him, reaching for his cell phone and the scrap piece of paper, tucked not so neatly in the fold.  
"Hopefully it's not too early..." He muttered to himself, trying to focus his eyes on the paper in front of him. "756..." He muttered as he completed the number sequence and held the phone to his ear. The phone call last night had given him his confidence back that the Ducks didn't hate him, they had actually been wondering what had happened to him in the past 7 years since the last time they saw him. The line rang a couple of times, Adam wasn't sure how many as he yawned into the receiver before it was picked up.  
"Hello..." The voice sounded tired but Adam couldn't not recognize it.  
"Hey, Guy?" Adam questioned, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand.  
"Yeah, who's this?" He asked, same old Guy, always sounding slightly confused about what he was doing.  
"It's Adam...Hey, is Connie home?" He asked, finally sitting up from the bed and swinging his legs over the side.  
"Yeah, she's just putting Hailey down for a nap. What's been happening with you? Suddenly you're too good for us?" Guy joked, a slight laugh escaping his lips. Adam smiled to himself,  
"No, just full of myself is more like it..." He had to admit, he had been rather self-absorbed until he had run into Julie the day before.  
"Either way, how you been?" Guy asked from the other end of the line.  
"I've been okay...surviving..." Another laugh from the other end of the phone,  
"Yeah, surviving on your 2.5 million a year..." They both laughed this time. "Anyway, Connie's coming down the stairs now so here she is..." Guy said before handing the phone off to Connie after a small whisper of who it was.  
"Adam!" She exclaimed, taking the phone.  
"Hey, Cons..."  
"I can't believe this! We haven't heard from you in like forever! You missed the wedding!" She sound really happy. It seemed almost like no one had changed in the few years he'd been away.  
"I know, look, Connie...I'm trying to find Julie..." The line was quiet suddenly and Adam wondered if they'd lost the connection. His phone was still in calling mode. "Connie..." He asked as he heard her move from wherever she was to another room with the click of a door handle.  
"Adam...Julie..." Her voice trailed off and Adam could feel the uneasiness in her voice.  
"Connie, I ran into her yesterday at the airport, there's something not right about her...I need to find her and I don't know how..."  
"Adam...Julie hasn't called me in almost three years, since she married Greg. He...He always gave me an uneasy feeling and well, I'm afraid of what he's turned into." Her voice was now trembling.  
"Connie, I know she's in trouble, I can feel it, I just need to find her." The line was silent again before she sighed.  
"The last address I have for them is 46 Norris Hill Road..." Adam flipped open Julie's abandoned wallet and glanced at the address, it was the same.  
"Yeah but how do I get there?"  
"Just take Highway 8 south until you get to the town of Beckford, you'll have to go through town on Sawnson's Lane until you get to the edge of town. It's an old dirt road, they're the only ones that live out there..." Her voice was low again.  
"Connie, how come if you knew that she was in trouble and you knew where she was...Why didn't you ever try to go and see her, try to help her?" Adam wondered out loud.  
"Because, I was scared of what I'd find. Was she okay when you saw her?" Adam sighed, contemplating the question.  
"She wasn't the same Julie. It was like she wasn't there at all." Connie sighed to keep from crying.  
"Adam, just bring her home. She loved you the day she married Greg, she just thought you'd given up on her." Adam nodded absently, this was all his fault.

Julie didn't even bother to turn on the radio as she finished cleaning up the kitchen, she wasn't in the mood for music anyway. Not having the radio on, created the peaceful silence that Julie needed at the moment to collect her thoughts. She couldn't leave him, he'd find her. She'd thought about it a million times but came to the same conclusion. He'd hurt her and anyone she went to for help. Besides, she had no way to get away. She had no money, no car, no friends, he'd completely isolated her from everything she knew, dropped her into this little unknown town with no one but him within a hundred miles. This was her life; for better or for worse, she had to admit it sometime and stop hoping for some hero to come to her rescue. It wasn't going to happen, she'd waited too long as it was. She needed to focus on what needed to be done here, today. Looking back down at the counter, she couldn't help but let her mind drift back to the happiest time in her life and how she let it go..

_3 months had passed since that night on Valentine's Day weekend when Adam had told her he would be leaving after graduation to play for New Jersey. Time had passed so fast, 18 year old Julie Gaffney thought, walked across campus to find the rest of the Ducks before the graduation rehearsal. They were right where she'd expected them to be, in the cafeteria, pigging out on the food the school was supplying for the students. Goldberg loaded his plate, piling Jell-O on top of the pastries he had already collected. Julie groaned, thinking back to that time in freshmen year when he made her eat so much she got sick. The taste of vomit still came to her thoughts every time that story came up. Scanning the room, she eyes locked with his and she smiled as much as a person as nervous as she could do. He pulled out the chair next to him and she sat, leaning over to kiss him chastely on the lips as he sat back down to finish the food that was on his plate.  
"You okay?" He asked, rubbing her back with his hand in a reassuring fashion__.  
_

_"Oh, What if I mess up my speech, what if I say something wrong. Everyone will remember me as being the girl that screwed up the most important speech of my life." She mumbled on before he laughed, leaning over to kiss her reassuringly,  
_

_"You'll be fine, just breathe." He coached, touching her cheek with a smile. Julie tried to smile back but she couldn't get her lips to stop shaking with nervousness. Adam put down his fork and stood, reaching for her hand, she was more important than any food. _

_"Come on, let's take a walk."_

Julie brought herself back with a shake of her head, refocusing on the counter in front of her. No, she couldn't live in the past. She couldn't go on thinking like this, it made her want it back more than she already did. She wanted the fights and the bad times even. She just wanted to be free again. Was she wrong to want to be loved again? Was she wrong to want to feel like she was beautiful again? The memories of Adam holding her in his arms wrapped itself around her mind and she sudden felt at peace with the situation. She had protected Adam, Greg didn't know about Adam and it would stay that way.

A small car came to a stop at the only gas station within 50 miles and Adam Banks stepped out into the heavy snow, his designer shoes crunching against the blacktop. He looked at the street sign that was nearly obscured with drifting snow and sighed in frustration. He had been on this Swanson St for the better part of an hour and still no Norris Rd had come up. Greg must have really planned this one out, he thought with a groan. Turning the collar of his jacket up, he quickly hurried inside and grabbed a few things off the shelf, noticing the old man at the counter staring at him with intensity. There was a TV perched behind the counter on an old filing cabinet and New Jersey was playing against a team Adam couldn't make out but it looked like they were leading in goals. The man still continued to stare at Adam as he finally decided and brought his purchases up to the counter. The man looked at him oddly before leaning back off his stool to start ring up what Adam had brought up. A pack of snowballs, how very fitting in the current weather, two packs of chips, one of those disgusting sandwiches they try to pass off as food and a bottle of Pepsi. Hey, he was hungry, he hadn't eaten anything since his parents house the day before. Glancing back at the television, he reminded himself he was supposed to be at that game but instead was here, in the middle of nowhere trying to save a girl he'd been in love with since he met almost 12 years ago.  
"$8.53.." The old man's voice broke his thought and he handed him a credit card. The old man looked down at the small item of plastic.  
"Don't take credit cards." The man grumpily shot back at Adam as he opened his wallet to retrieve cash. He handed him a fifty, placing his card back into its place in his wallet. The old man looked down at it as if he'd never seen one before and back at Adam,  
"I don't have change to break this." He said in the rudest tone Adam had ever heard. Adam grumbled just slightly.  
"Keep the change." He motioned with his hand and collected the bag from the counter. Jeez, this really was the middle of nowhere. No wonder the man couldn't break his money, he probably got so little business. The snow just added to it. He swung open the car door and threw the bag on the passenger's seat, before starting the car with a rumble.

Julie had moved from the kitchen to the hall and was now mopping the floors slowly to make sure she got every little section. It was a daunting task but Greg wanted it done. Why did everything always come back to Greg in her mind? He was her every waking moment, her every thought. She hated this, she hated what she had become from him. She felt the tears forming in her eyes and she violently threw the broom to the floor and backed against the wall, finally letting her tears run free. She was all alone and no one would see her cry. This was all her fault, she could be with the most loving and caring man in the world but instead she was here, being a maid to a man who claimed to love her but hit her instead. She slowly slid down the wall until she was swatted against it, arms wrapped around her knees. How did all this happen? She let it happen, she made it happen, she reminded herself.

_The campus was pretty much dead after the ceremony, the night moon beginning to shine brightly through the maple trees that lined the lake. Julie stared nervously down at his hand that was interlaced with hers, their fingers gently sliding together as they walked. The same thought had been running through her head all week and now that graduation was over, she could finally let herself speak. Could they make this work? Could they be 5000 miles apart and still be committed to only each other? She wanted to but was it possible? Would she just become another chain holding Adam back? The girlfriend back in Minnesota that he saw on the long weekends and holidays. Did she really want that for herself? She knew what was best for him and she had done her part to get him there, now she needed to think about herself. Her room had been packed and she was ready to head back to Maine for the summer with her family. She should do this now, she told herself, before it became a dear John letter, which wasn't her at all. She tightened her grip on his hand and turned to him quickly, stopping their pace across campus.  
"Adam, we need to talk." She started, hoping he wasn't going to hate her for this. He looked at her intently, a small smile on his lips as he reached for her._

_"Jules, what's up?" He asked softly touching her cheek, why did he have to be so damn cute when she was trying to the realistic one in this situation. She leaned into his hand a little and closed her eyes for a moment before continuing, she just wanted one more moment of him not hating her__.__ She sighed deeply and let go of his hand, turning to walk towards the lake on the East side of the campus. She couldn't do this with him looking at her that way, she couldn't do it with him touching her that way. She was trying to save him, trying to be good to him. She stopped and stared at the moonlight on the lake.  
"Jules. what's up?" He asked finally reaching her and wrapping his arms around her waist, gathering her to his chest. God, he wasn't making this easy.  
"I've been thinking. I know we said that this whole long distance thing was going to work but maybe we're fooling ourselves..." His eyes changed to one of disbelief when he turned her towards him. She hated herself for doing this, doing this to him, to them.  
"What do you mean, Julie?" His eyes showed his confusion and Julie turned towards the lake.  
"I mean, I don't want to be the on-the-weekends girlfriend. I don't think that's going to be enough for either of us. I think maybe we should just put things on hold for a while and we'll just wait and see." Her eyes scanned his for reassurance.  
"Why do we have to wait? I know how I feel about you. I want to be with you! I want to..." He scoffed loudly turning away from her. She could feel the conversation getting more intense with every new sentence.  
"Adam, if we're still crazy about each other after this than nothing can tear us apart! I just don't want to spend four years waiting around for you and wondering what you're doing." She grabbed his shoulders to make him look at her and tried to convey through her eyes that this wasn't a break up but a time apart. "I know how selfish that sounds but I'll be constantly waiting for you to come home to get five minutes with you before you leave again. It will be an endless cycle! I won't be able to concentrate on school when I'm wondering what you're doing all the time. I don't want to become a jealous girlfriend and I want to trust you but 5000 miles is a long way to cover up lies."  
"What__,__ so you think I'd cheat on you?" Adam's face reddened with anger. "Julie, can't you just understand I love you! I would do anything to be with you! I didn't even want to go until you told me it was okay!"  
"I still say it's okay. This will be okay but I don't want to be attached to you like some ball and chain. I thought it's what you wanted! I just want you to be happy and I should come second to that. You want this...so go." She stated pushing against his chest lightly.__  
__"I want you more!" Adam confided, taking her face into his hands again and cupping her chin in the palms. Julie tried to hold her emotions, she wanted him to think she was all right with this.  
"Julie, just tell me you love me and I'll stay, I'll make it work! I'll just play here on the college team. Just tell me you love me and I'll stay.." He whispered, his eyes pleading for a response. Julie's heart was breaking into a million pieces as she held her silence and looked down to avoid this unwavering stare. She wanted more than anything to say it but she couldn't do that to him. The silence was unnerving to him and he finally let go of her and slowly backed away.  
"So this is the way you want it?" He asked, suddenly angry with her. She nodded, not looking up from the grass she was staring at intently.  
"Adam, please just go, this is your chance to get out of here and make something of yourself. To finally prove your father wrong." She promised, holding back her tears. His eyes darted out on the lake and he sighed,  
"Just tell me, if you don't love me, what have these past 3 and half years been? A joke? Some game? Every time we made love__,__ you were just pretending?" He asked angrily. She scrunched up her face at his sudden tone, how could he think that when he knew how she felt! She had shown him how she felt even if she could never say it.__  
__"Adam, please. I didn't want it to be like this!" She pleaded again. Adam backed away from her outreached hand as she tried to comfort him__.  
__"No, Julie! These past three years have been nothing but a lie! You've just been waiting to get rid of me!" He turned away from her and began to walk away.  
"Adam! I..." Julie started but he was gone before she could bring herself to say it. She did love him, she wanted it to work but just as she had tried to save him from being hurt, she'd hurt him more than anyone could._

Julie's thoughts were broke as the door bell sounded into the emptiness of the house. It chimed with an echo that remained in her head for a few more seconds. Julie looked around with a sudden freight. Who could be there? No one would come out in this horrible storm to see her. All the neighbors wives would be a home cooking and preparing for dinner, it was nearing 3 o'clock, lucky for her, Greg wasn't done at work until 5 and then would be home a quarter to 6. She had plenty of time to still think about dinner. Again, her thoughts ran back to Greg as the door bell rang again, the person must be impatient. Julie quickly cleaned up the cleaning supplies she had been using and wiped her face with her hand to remove the wet tears before smoothing her pants over her thighs and straightening her shirt to go to the door. She fixed her hair on her way to cover her bruises in the hall mirror before she started for the door. She was almost to it when the bell went off again. Someone was really impatient, she thought, finally reaching the door and grasping the handle in her hand. She slowly unlocked the door and turned the handle, it was cold to the touch from the weather outside. The snow was really heavy still when she opened the door to find Adam Banks standing on her front porch, wallet in hand. the smile that she had prepared to greet whoever was at the door faded and she scolded at him.  
"Adam! What are you doing here? How did you find me?" She was suddenly so agitated, she forgot about the bruises lining her face and pushed the hair out of the way in frustration.  
"What the hell!" Adam started pushing her back into the door with a bit of force. Julie quickly realized what she'd done and pushed the hair back into her face to cover the offending marks.  
"It's nothing, I fell..." She tried to explain away, turning away from him.  
"Yeah, what'd you fall on, a concrete block...face first?" He asked, reaching out to touch her face. She backed up, once she say him coming, not letting him touch her face.  
"Adam, what are you doing here?" She asked again, taking her wallet back and looking inside for the contents.  
"No, I didn't take anything. Jules, you got to get out of here..." He said following her into the kitchen, leaving wet shoe prints on the floor as he walked.  
"Adam! I just cleaned that!" She practically yelled, quickly grabbing a mop from the closet to get up the water before it stained the floor.  
"Sorry.." He quietly mumbled.  
"Greg gets mad when the house is dirty..." She mumbled more to herself than him, returning the mop to the closet and making him clean his shoes with a towel.  
"Julie, listen to me. You got to get out of here. He's dangerous...look at your face!" Adam said trying again to touch her face. This time she didn't see him coming and he placed his hand over the bruises, touching them lightly with a soft hand.

"Greg didn't do this... I'm just a klutz.." She said thought she wanted to cry. Just the touch of his skin make her want to die rather than live the way she had been anymore. It would be so easy to just run, run with him, that was what he was asking. She looked up at him,  
"Adam, what are you asking me?" She asked, looking up at him as he rubbed his thumb against the part of her cheek that wasn't bruised.  
"Julie, leave with me, I'll take you home. We'll go back to Minneapolis and find the ducks..." She cut him off,  
"No, I will not bring other people into my problems.": She turned away fast, going about her business in the kitchen. "This is my home, Adam. I'm not leaving." His face reddened a little and he followed her into the living room as she continued to clean up. She was like a robot in her meticulous observations.  
"I'd appreciate it if you'd leave now." Her voice was soft and blocked by the hair that had fallen back into her face. No, he wasn't leaving her here and at that particular moment, he didn't care what she said. He was out of the room and up the stairs before she even looked up again. The banging of doors on the second floor was the only thing that signaled where he had gone and Julie cursed softly, heading up the stairs after him.  
"Adam Banks!" She yelled at him, a bit of her old self returning if only for a minute. She came to stop in front of her bedroom where he had a suitcase out on the bed and was piling her clothes into it. "Get out of my house! Now!" She cried with aggravation.  
"Not without you..." He mumbled softly just audible enough for her to hear as he continued to the closet.  
"Adam, I'm not going with you. Now would you put that back before you get me in more trouble." She yelled, covering her mouth with her hand. She realized what she had said as it escaped her lips and he looked up at her with a deep hurt. She turned her face away, trying to find something else to look at. He knew what he thought was happening here but now he was sure. He heart felt like it broke at that exact moment and he wanted to take her in his arms.  
"Oh, Jules...He did this, didn't he?" Adam asked softly, touching her bruises again. Julie felt her hard exterior that she tried so hard to kept up, crumble to the floor when she realized he knew. It wasn't a scared break down but a relieving breakdown knowing she wasn't alone anymore in her struggle. She gripped his jacket clad arms in her hands and let out a sob.  
"It's okay, Adam. There's no getting away from him. He'll find me no matter where I go. It's hopeless..." She said, looking down. Adam's face hardened,  
"No, it's not. I'm getting you out of here." He said sternly, letting go of her face and finishing packing her suitcase before he closed and zipped it up.  
"Adam, you can't be serious! I'm married! You have to leave here without me!" She said, finding some composure and drying her eyes. Could this really be happening? She thought silently. Adam shook his head, removing the suitcase from the bed and looking around for anything else she might want to take, it was all his, from what he concluded. Julie owned nothing but what was on her back. Julie looked up at him, eyes still red but now in shock. He went to move to go out the door with her bag and she blocked him.  
"He'll come after us.." She tried to reason, she didn't want him involved.  
"Let him." Adam was unwavering, cupping her face in his hand. Her eyes were unsure as he brushed his hand across her cheek again in a reassuring fashion.  
"Julie, do you trust me?" He asked looking into her eyes. She nodded only slightly.  
"Trust me now..." He whispered as she finally nodded in approval and went over to the closet to grab a small box before exiting the room. He followed with the suitcase, shutting the door behind him to buy them some time. She was at the door, coat on, box in hand when he caught up to her. Her eyes were unsure but she nodded at him in approval and they left the house for the wintery blizzard outside.


	5. Chapter 5

The soft trickling of water spraying down against the ceramic tiles of the shower told Adam that Julie hadn't tried to escape out the bathroom window yet. The thought had crossed his mind that she might try to run back to that worthless piece of trash, she claimed was her husband but instead she was here with him. There was a soft splash of water against the wall and Adam let out a sigh of relief. She might be in this with him, instead of against him. He sighed heavily, sitting down on the hard surface of the hotel bed and resting his head in his hands to think for a moment of a plan of action. She hadn't said a word about her marriage or Greg since they left her house a few hours earlier. In fact, he had been so intent on finding her and getting her safe that now that she was with him, he wasn't sure how to interact with her at all. She was so different than the Julie he remember. The Julie he fell in love with was a spontaneous, fun-loving, carefree, strong girl. The Julie that stood on the other side of the paper-thin wall was something completely different, something he would have to learn all over again. She had no light in her eyes, she had no hopes for the future, she just happened to look like Julie Gaffney. She never smiled and she cowered away when you reached for her. He laughed to himself for a moment, typical Adam Banks move, save the girl but then bore her to death with the daring escape. In truth he had no idea where to go from here. The entire car ride had been mostly silent, Julie shifting uncomfortably in her seat every so often but Adam hadn't made any stops, not even bathroom breaks, which reminded him he'd have to get in there when she was done. The running water was not helping him as he stood. By the time they did finally stop, they were at least 100 miles north of where they started, and once again Adam had picked the worse hotel within 30 miles to stop at. It was nearing 7 pm and the snow had stopped momentarily on the road, which only proved to cause Julie some alarm. They were getting pretty close to home, that being Minneapolis for him but Adam knew Julie wouldn't want to see anyone just yet. He neared the window, the clear air outside letting Adam stare out the large picture window of the low-rate motel room and unto the gloomy highway just a few feet from the door of their room. The road was completely deserted, settling the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach that had started as soon as he turned the car on. Her words were yet to leave his mind that Greg would find them. From what he could predict, they hadn't been followed, not that Greg had even figured out there was anything wrong yet but Adam couldn't afford to take chances, not when it came to Julie's life. He moved closer to the door of the bathroom and could hear the water running still but there was another sound coming from the bathroom now as well. The sound pulled at Adam's heart and made him want to break the door down and take her in his arms. She was crying against the falling water petals, he knew that sound anywhere. He hadn't heard it often but when he did it made him ready to kill someone. He let his hands fall from where they had been settled on his hips and he softly knocked on the door.

"Julie?" He asked, trying not to put any of the worry he was feeling into his voice. There was no answer and Adam suddenly worried if she had hurt herself in her depression.

"Julie, is everything okay?" He asked knocking again. Still no answer, he jiggled the door handle, it was locked from the inside. He sighed in frustration, gripping the door jamb.

"Julie, I'm coming in, if you don't answer me." He warned, backing up to throw himself into the door. He gave her another 15 seconds before he popped the door open using his shoulder to do so. The steam from the hot shower filled the room with a blanket of mist, making it hard for Adam to see until his eyes adjusted to it.

"Julie!" He asked frantic now of what she could have done to herself. He moved towards the shower and pulled the curtain open in one quick motion of his goal-shooting arm. She sat on the floor of the shower unit, knees pulled up to her chest, head resting on her knees, her eyes filled with tears. When she looked up at him, her eyes were filled with so much hurt and confusion that for the first time in seven years Adam felt his own eyes begin to mist over.

"Jules.." He questioned stepping into the shower, fully clothed, and turned off the water. He didn't care that he was now wet as he knelt to look at Julie. She let her head fall back to her knees and tried to remind herself that she didn't cry. She wasn't Julie Gaffney anymore but she had been doing a lot of crying today. Julie Gaffney cried, Julie Williams couldn't cry. The tears began again down her face and she took off her wedding ring, letting it float ever so slowly down the uncovered drain. Good-bye to Julie Williams, she thought silently, rubbing her bruised cheek on her knees.

"Jules?" Adam's voice brought her back up to the man that was standing over her naked body and she tried to cover herself as much as she could, tucking her knees to her chest. She felt exposed to his eyes as he surveyed her bruises before he quickly grabbed a towel from the hook and wrapped it around her. He picked her up bridal style from her solitude on the shower floor and carrying her out of the bathroom into the small bedroom. Her eyes started a whole new set of tears as he placed her on the bed and crawled in next to her, bring her back against his chest in a awkward spooning position.

"Shh…it's okay, everything's going to be okay.." He whispered, stroking her arm with his fingertips. He quietly brushed the hair from her forehead and placed a caste kiss there as he soothed her withering form. He noticed certain areas on her that were visible to him where she had scrubbed so hard that her skin was red and bruising. She was trying to get herself clean, trying to get the feeling of Greg off of herself. She wanted every memory of him touching her gone and every feeling of him that remained on her to go away. He continued to stroked her wet hair from her face and softly kissed each new patch of kiss,

"It's okay, I'm here. You don't have to tell me anything." He reassured her as he heard the crying slowly soften to nothing before her eyes drifted slowly shut and she fell asleep in his arms. He lay there for a few more minutes just holding her, remembering what it felt like to have her in his arms. The sun was starting to set from outside the window and he felt his eye lids get heavy before he fell into a deep and welcome sleep alongside the only woman he'd ever loved.

The morning came too fast, or so Adam thought as he opened his eyes to find himself still holding a peacefully sleeping Julie. He sighed with contentment and leaned his hand back against the pillows, letting his arm that wasn't under her to flop off the other side of the bed to rest his back against the not so soft mattress. His neck had a kink in it from not sleeping as he normally would have and his back ached but it was worth it to hold her in his arms again. His phone, which he'd set to vibrate the night before started to do it's familiar dance on the night stand next to his side of the bed and he quickly retrieved it as to not wake Julie.

"Hello?" He asked lazily, letting the words roll off his lips in a whisper.

"Adam? What happened? Are you alright?" Connie's voice filled the air as Julie moved in her sleep. Adam quickly but gently removed his arm from under Julie's head and stood to close the window shades so the sun wouldn't wake Julie too soon.

"I'm fine. Everything's fine. She's fine." He nodded to himself, looking to her sleeping form a few feet away.

"So you got her? She's with you?" She asked impatiently, he could tell she was bouncing on her feet with excitement on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, look, Connie, I'll call you when I can tell you more but right now, I need to focus on making sure Julie's okay." He reassured her before she grumbled a good-bye and hung up the phone. Adam placed his phone back on the table and stared down at his angel as she slept. She looked so peaceful in her sleep. He almost wished he never had to wake her but if he didn't they could get caught by an angry Greg. They needed to keep moving, he decided. At least that would give him time to think and come up with a plan. He slowly sat down in front of her and placed his hand on her cheek just letting his palm rest against her skin.

"Jules, wake up." He whispered just loud enough to get her attention but not scare her in the process. She stirred and moved her face more into his hand that cupped her cheek, a small smile trying to play on her lips if only she'd let it. She hadn't slept that good in years and she hated to wake up from it now. Her eyes slowly opened and shut again at the morning light that still seemed to be able to find its way in through the curtains. When she opened them again, her eyes transfixed on the man staring down at her, his blue eyes questioning how she was feeling.

"Adam?" She asked, still wondering if everything about yesterday was a dream. Apparently, it wasn't, she thought looking around the room at her surroundings. She sat up quickly, half expecting Greg to jump out of nowhere and take her home. "Where are we?" She asked, still looking for her husband. Adam shrugged,

"Somewhere close to St. Paul..." He mumbled, placing a hand on her cheek. She closed her eyes to his touch before looking down and realizing that she was still only clad in a towel. She quickly hurried to the bathroom to change into something that covered a little more of her. He stood from the bed, letting her have her space of comfort and knowing she could trust him not to invade that space.

"Adam?" Her voice lingered from a crack in the bathroom door where it opened just slightly. He turned quickly away from the thoughts that filled his mind and back at what was important at the moment, which was her. Anything she needed he was here to get it for her.

"What's wrong, Julie?" He asked, coming to stand next to the door that separated them. Her hand appeared around the opening and she motioned to the other side of the room.

"Could you hand me my bag, I forgot to get something to wear out of it and…." Her voice trailed off into nothing as he nodded in understanding. It wasn't as if he just expected everything to suddenly go back to the way things were when they were teenagers but he had hoped she'd feel at least a little comfortable with him. He knew that wasn't going to happen overnight but he hoped he'd see some traces of the old Julie come to the surface now that she was away from Greg. He just wished she could see how much he still loved her.

"Here you go, Jules. Do you need anything else? I'll walk down to the office and get us some sodas if you want.." The door was silent for a long moment before she emerged, dressed in a loose t-shirt he recognize as one of his own and a pair of old shorts that looked like they hadn't been wore in years.

"No, I'm fine. Besides…" She looked down at the floor for a moment and wondered how this was going to sound to him, "I don't want to be alone. I mean, what if Greg shows up and I'm here by myself?" She sounded like a small child but he didn't mind protecting her if that's what she wanted right now. He nodded, surveying her body with his eyes on again. There was bruises on her thighs, just above the knee and some bruising forming on her upper arms and neck. She moved towards the bed before he could ask her about the night before or anything else she really didn't want to answer at the moment but he wasn't going to ask her any of that anyways. He was more concerned with how she was right now. She sat against the pillows, bring her legs up to cross them and rest her hands on her calves. Adam looked back at her, her eyes beginning to swell from all the crying she had done the night before.

"Adam, I don't know if this is such a good idea." Her breathing was shallow but he could hear a faint whimper behind her words as she spoke. She didn't want to lose him again, even if it meant going back to Greg. She didn't think she could bear to watch him get hurt.

"Julie.." He began walking back over to the bed and cupping her face in his hands. Her eyes had begun to shed silent tears down her flushed cheeks. They were coming so fast that Adam barely had time to wipe away one set when another would start the same path.

"Jules, I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Greg's going to have to go through me before he'll ever lay a hand on you again." He promised. That was just what she was afraid of. Her eyes searched his for reassurance before she let them flutter closed to try to control her falling tears. Her head moved slightly in acknowledgement of his oath and she placed her own hands over Adam's.

"Adam, just promise me you won't leave me." Her eyes opened again to reveal the soft blue orbs he'd spent so many restless nights dreaming about. His face hardened with determination.

"I swear, I'm never going to leave you again unless you ask me to." Her eyes fell shut again in resolution and she let a few tears fall unto his finger tips that were still resting on the bottom of her reddened cheeks. She sighed deeply and moved Adam's hands from her face down to her lap and laced her fingers with his.

"We should have a plan." She final breathed out, setting herself on a task to keep her mind occupied. He let a smile play on his lips, his Julie, the one he left behind was now talking again. He knew she was in there somewhere.

"Name a place." He suggested. She looked at him, a mark of confusion on her face and she tilted her head to the side to contemplate her response. "Anywhere, just name it and we'll go." He followed up, knowing she was confused.

"I don't know." Her face froze in contemplation, it was too soon for her to try to make any decisions when she'd been denied them for so long. She wasn't even sure she could make up her mind on what her favorite color was anymore.

"Come on, there has to be somewhere you want to go." He smiled again, trying to get her to at least let a grin out of the hard shell she had formed. She didn't comply instead she got up from her spot on the bed and moved towards the desk that sat on the opposite side of the room, picking up a small folded paper up off the desk.

"Here, we'll let luck decide where we go." She suggested, a hint of a smile curled on the right side her lips and Adam stood taking what was a map of the United States from her and pinning it up on the wall.

"Okay, fine, have it your way." He smiled, handing her a push pin and standing back, "Throw it." He encouraged as she looked at his smiling face. Here was to letting go and getting her freedom back. She swung her arm back and threw the pin at the map waiting to see where it landed.

The airport was packed as usual, Adam thought, pulling Julie to his side protectively against the crowd. They had decided to pose at husband and wife during their trip. She hugged her box to her chest as he carried both their bags, his over his shoulder and her bag in his opposite hand. They passed by people like they were standing still, heading for the counter to reserve tickets for the next flight to Arizona. The line wasn't long, a couple or two ahead of them and they stopped behind a young couple waiting in line to buy tickets. They looked like they were probably newlyweds, smiling and kissing as Julie turned her head away. She could remember when her and the man standing next to her acted like that. They couldn't keep their hands off each other for a brief period in Junior year. Adam's arm that had been resting protectively around her mid-section now fell as soon as they stopped and he searched his bag for his wallet. Julie searched the crowd of people with her eyes, nervously looking around for anyone that might have been watching them. She's always felt like she was being watched, no matter where she was or what she was doing. She shivered at the thought before Adam's voice broke her from her thoughts.

"So, Phoenix it is. I hope you packed something for the hot weather." Adam spoke more to himself than her. Julie's eyes returned to the couple in front of them with uncertainty.

"You packed for me." She reminded him, still searching for a face in the crowd that she dreaded to see. Adam noted her constant movement and stopped his search to place his hand on her shoulder.

"Julie, it's okay, we're fine." He reassured her. She met his eyes but her eyes were filled with fear still. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her hands which had now began to shaking but ringing them together against her chest.

"Okay, I'm okay." She promised and he turned once again, finally pulled his wallet from his bag just as they made it to the counter. The woman behind the counter smile graciously as they approached.

"Hello, we need two tickets on the earliest flight you have to Phoenix." The woman smiled graciously again and tapped away on her keyboard for a moment.

"It looks like we have a flight leaving in about 45 minutes, let me see if you can still get through security in time to make the flight." She picked up her phone to apparently dial someone in another part of the airport. Julie turned to look behind her and a flash of dark cold eyes flashed across in front of an older lady that was passing the entrance doors. Julie's heart stopped for moment before she felt it beat again with a thump. He felt her turn quickly next to him as he handed the woman enough money to cover the tickets, it was too risky to use a credit card right now, who knew who this guy had contacts with, Adam thought quickly leaving the cards in his wallet. Julie tensed next to him, quickly throwing on a pair of sunglasses she lifted from Adam's pocket.

"What's going on?" He whispered so no one would hear him but her. Pulling her against him as if he was kissing her head.

"He's here…" Was all she said, her hands beginning to shake against his arm. Adam turned around to scan the crowd himself but didn't see anyone near them. He pulled her close anyway.

"Julie, you're just imagining it. Okay, calm down." He whispered, looking back to the counter clerk with a smile.

"Sir, is everything okay?" The woman behind the counter asked, looking at Julie and seeing the freight she had. She shook with nervousness, trying to steady her hands. Adam smiled again, retrieving the tickets from her outstretched hand.

"Yes, of course. My wife, she just gets nervous to fly." He promised, tucking the tickets in his pocket. The woman seemed content with the answer. Adam picked up the bags and stepped out the line. Julie refused the turn around,

"He'll see me." Her voice was trembling with fear. Adam looked again and still saw no one that even looked like Greg mixed into the crowd.

"Okay, let's just get on the plane." He placed his hand on the small of her back to lead the way and they made it to the security check point before Adam turned again to look. This time his eyes locked with the lean face of Greg Williams. Playing the obvious tourist, Adam pretending to be admiring the architecture of the airport before turning his attention back to Julie.

"Just keep moving forward. I'm not leaving you." He whispered, Julie grabbing onto his hand with all her might knowing now her fears were real. They got to the metal detectors and Adam had to pry Julie's hand from his own to get her to go through without him. He stepped through and picked up their bags at the other side, taking the opportunity to glace back at Greg who was about 6 or 7 people behind them. He looked right at Adam and he suddenly knew that Greg knew who he was.

"Come on, we have to go." Adam's heart was beginning to speed up. This was not the time for him to show panic especially in front of Julie. She was already freaking out enough. She took his hand again and they walked briskly towards the gate. Greg had set off the metal detector behind them so the security guards had detained him to ask what he might be carrying. This gave them enough time to make it to the gate and hand their tickets to the woman standing there. She okayed them and they entered the last security check point before boarding the plane. Julie was through quickly as she didn't have the luggage but it took them a few minutes to finish checking the bags Adam was carrying. He finally stepped through the gate and they glanced back at the ticket check in just enough time to see Greg appear.

"I'm sorry, sir. You have to have a boarding pass to go beyond this point. " The woman standing near the gate informed him as he tried to argue with her that his wife was on board. Julie turned and stepped onto the plane without a second glance back at him.

The plane wasn't overly crowded but there was a fair share of people traveling that day. A lot of people still returning home from the holiday, Adam thought, not letting go of Julie's hand. Julie took the window seat as Adam sat in the aisle, they had chosen business class as to not direct attention to Adam's fame or make her sit next to someone else in coach but they're attention remained on the door until the last flight attendant boarded and the door was shut with a hiss of air. Julie finally let out the breathe she was unconsciously holding.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking over at the beauty seated next to him.

"Yeah, I just hope he doesn't follow us." She pushed the hair that had fallen into her face back behind her ear and removed the sunglasses she had barrowed to reveal the bruise still on her cheek. He touched it with his hand and the intensity both of them felt from just being chased to the gate set in. Adam wanted to reach forward and capture her lips with his. The feeling of his touch on her cheek calmed her as he showed her he still loved her but he wasn't going to push, this was her move to make. Julie turned quickly, beginning to stare intently out the window as the fasten seat belts sign appeared and they both strapped in getting ready for take off. He had to admit he was a little disappointed but he'd wait forever for her to be alright again. He felt the bump of the plane take off, they'd be in Arizona in just under 4 hours.


	6. Chapter 6

Tiny rays of sunlight slowly filtered around the pull blind in the small oval window of the cabin, filling the small business class seating area of the Bowen 747 bound for Phoenix Arizona with warmth and extending into the aisle. Julie woke with a jolt, sitting up straight in her seat, her heart pounding in her chest and her back rigid like a bow. Her eyes scanned her surroundings frantically for any sign of the man that was haunting her dreams, a fear like no other creating a near panic attack in her head, filtering down into her chest. Greg Williams was nowhere in sight and Julie was positive he wasn't on the plane, so why could she not get the feeling of someone watching her out of her mind? Her eyes scanned the other passengers frantically looking for anyone out of the ordinary but no one was looking at her. Everyone was occupied within their own minds. Some watching videos on their mobile devices, others sleeping much like the man next to her. Adam Banks curled up on himself, quietly slept next to her, his breath coming in even breaths unto his chest. Her heart slowed at the sight and she leaned back in her seat as to not draw any unwanted attention to herself. It had been years since she hadn't had to worry about him watching every move she made. This was one moment he wasn't watching, she silently reminded herself. She had nothing to worry about, they were 30,000 feet in the air and she knew he hadn't made it on the plane. She looked around the cabin again with wandering eyes just to make sure. Once she was sure he was not hiding anywhere near, she let her eyes close and her head rest back against the soft pillow of the over-sized seat. Placing a hand over her expanding and contracting chest; she softly prayed for a moment of peace from her years of inner battles. it had been too long since she could relax that she was afraid her body would no longer know how to do so. Once her breathing had returned to normal, she glanced over again at the young man fast asleep next to her. His sandy blonde hair was longer than she ever remembered it being, probably about an inch off his head and spiked at the top. It could have just been the way he was sleeping that cause his hair to go like that, Adam was never one know to spike his hair, except a brief period in freshmen year of high school when he wanted to impress her. His face contorted from a dream he was apparently having and he moved down in his seat with a small groan, tucking his chin to chest tighter. A hint of a smile played on her lips and she remembered all the times she watched him sleep. He always slept so heavy, she could never get him awake when she wanted to. She used to lay under the covers in the early morning, just as the sun was coming up and run her fingers through his soft hair, waiting for his eyes to open and look down at her. Those were the moments she missed the most. The calm sereneness of the new day without any worry but what to wear. Adam usually would sleep until the very last minute and wake upright before they'd have to leave. On the mornings they didn't have to be anywhere, they'd be making love through breakfast, like they usually did on nights they spent together. She wished her life was that simple still, that it could be that simple again. She only ever wanted a simple life, not the nightmare she had brought her way into. If only she could erase the past eight years of her life she could start again. Maybe this time with Adam. Her mind drifted off as she stared out the window again at the puffy white clouds as they floated by and into the clear sky behind. A particular memory drifted into her thoughts and she smiled. Maybe this could be the new start for her? Maybe she could finally be out of Greg's life forever. Looking back out the window, Julie watched the fading sun in the small break of clouds, a hint of a new beginning on the horizon. She almost smiled at the thought before she remembered the last time she tried to leave. Greg had followed her two states over, only to drag her home kicking and screaming and mercilessly beat her until she couldn't get out of bed for a week. She shook her head at the thought, promising that it would be different this time. It had to be, she thought, looking back to Adam next to her. She wouldn't let him get hurt. Before she could even think about getting her life back, she had to get Greg out of it. He would be following close behind them if not on the next flight. For all she knew, he could have found a faster flight and would be there when they got off the plane. Her pulse started to quicken with each new fear entering her mind and she found herself gripping the arm cushion of the seat into a ball. Adam stirred next to her and she wondered if she should wake him to calm her fears but she wasn't about to interrupt his sleep after all he'd done for her. The cause of his movement was evident when he rolled away from her to reveal a flashing cell phone strapped to his belt. He must have forgot to turn it off when they had taken off. Julie looked at it for a moment before lifting it from its carrier and looking to the caller ID. G C Germaine flashed in the neon lights from the small display window and Julie's hand shook. She had missed their wedding, she had missing everything in her best friend's life and yet here she was calling Adam, probably to check on her. guilt flooded her senses and she quickly turned off the device before one of the attendants saw her with it. She placed the phone back in its carrier on Adam's waist just as it stopped flashing and clicked off, turning away to let a few tears roll down her already red puffy cheeks. How had she let this happen? How did she turn into the woman she saw in the mirror every morning? A scared, pathetically weak individual with no backbone. She was never this way, never one to shut up when her mind was screaming at her to talk. She'd missed so much, she'd let herself miss so much and he'd taken so much from her. He'd stripped her of everything, even her dignity. She could never be the same person she was again no matter how hard she tried. She'd have to be different, stronger to get through this. Her thoughts creased as she felt Adam stir again behind her, wiping away any stray tears from her face so he wouldn't know she'd been crying again. He sat up, grabbing his phone to see who called but realized it had been turned off. He let out a heavy sigh, closing the phone and replacing it to his case. Julie glanced back at him, her eyes studying his movements with each new expression his face showed. He was leaning his head back against the head rest and looking at the ceiling in a bit of a daze at the current moment and Julie wondered what he could be thinking. She contemplated his stance for a long moment before his eyes moved to hers, first noticing that she had been staring at him. When his blue eyes met hers, he immediately saw the worry in them and his own jaw tensed, looking around the cabin.

"Everything okay? How long was I asleep?" He asked, sitting more straight in his seat to properly survey their neighboring passengers. His hand moved to his eyes in an effort to wake himself up more and he rubbed at them to clear the fogginess from his irises. Julie shrugged, looking back to the seat and the pattern that was sewn into it with interest.

"A while, we're going to be landing in a few minutes, I think." She said without much interest. Her voice gave away her nervousness though, a slight wavering in it that did not go unnoticed. Adam picked up on it immediately and tried to reach out to her pale pink cheek. He could see the tinted tear tracks still evident on her cheeks and he wished more than anything that he could make it all go away. His hand was nearly to her face when she turned her head away, almost as if she hadn't seen him moving towards her. She had but she wasn't going to go there just yet. Every touch, whether it be Adam's or someone else's felt the same on her skin, a cold dark nightmare. A promise that pain was ahead. Everyone that tried to get close was him to her until she could start to heal. Even if by some miracle she managed to escape and go on to live a normal life again, his forceful touch would always be in the back of her mind every time another man tried touched her. The sad part was, even Adam's touch would become a violation to her person if he tried to get close to her again too soon. A sigh escaped her lips and she tried to focus on something else to keep her mind from thinking these horrible thoughts. She casually brushed her hair from her face and behind her ear before looking back at him. She tried to nod only slightly and reassure him that she was in her right mind.

"I'm fine." She whispered, a hint of fear still laced with her voice as he moved his hand back away from her and to his lap. He had to be careful with her and he wouldn't push.

"So what's bothering you then?" He asked, glancing back at his phone out of habit. The light flashed on the side to let him know that the battery was still on even if the phone was powered down. He knew it had rung before, so whoever it was probably had left a message. He assumed it would be Connie, he was supposed to call her back the night before and hadn't done so, too worried about Julie to be bothered. She was probably wondering why he hadn't called her back yet and had got anxious like he knew she would. He had to smile at her probably pacing form, driving Guy up the wall. Adam turned back to Julie when she finally choose to response.

"Nothing….there's no way that Greg could have gotten to Phoenix before us, is there?" She asked, a look of confusion marking her beautiful face. He thought about the question for a few moments before shaking his head. He was almost possible there had not been a more direct flight than theirs.

"No, we took a direct flight so unless he chartered a plane the minute after we took off, I think we'll be okay." He reassured her, patting her hand where it lay on the shared arm rest. She quickly moved it, tucking it into her lap. Her mind seemed to ease at the thought of Greg far behind them and she returned her gaze to the window, watching the clouds pass by. The silence was resounding, Adam thought, looking back to his phone and wondered if he should call Connie with a response when they landed or let her wait until he was sure they were safe. His mind was set not to, placing the phone in his bag instead of back on his hip and looking back at Julie. He almost wondered if he should be using the phone at all considering the way Julie talked of Greg having all sorts of connections. He almost laughed, thinking the guy would be able to trace his calls. Adam refocused on the woman next to him and thought about how he was going to show her that he still cared for her. Every interaction they'd had so far save for the few minutes at the hotel, she had spend avoiding him touch. She needed to see she wasn't alone in this, she needed to know that he still loved her but at the same time, Adam was worried that she'd misunderstand such an admission or that it would be too soon for her to accept him again. She might even take what he was saying the wrong way and think he wanted to jump back into their relationship where they ended it. He knew that wasn't possible and he had already made up his mind that when she was ready, he would be there. He wasn't going to pressure her or make her uncomfortable with him at all. That would be the last thing she needed right now. The crackle of the intercom system coming on drew his attention away from her for a moment as he listened to the announcement.

"Attention Passengers. This is your Captain speaking. We are running on time, no turbulence ahead and should be reach our destination in the next few minutes. Please fasten your seat belts to begin our descent and thank you for flying American Airlines." Adam's thoughts were interrupted, the announcement sending them elsewhere as he fumbled with his seat belt. They didn't have a plan for when they landed, only that Greg would be close behind. It would be his responsibility to keep her safe. They'd have to move fast when they got off the plane, he knew that for sure. Hopefully they could jump right on another plane, not hanging around the airport for too long. Julie looked over at him again, a look of concern still occupying her bright blue orbs. He wanted to squeeze her hand gently from its place on the fabric covered divider between their two seats but thought better of it after her last reaction, focusing on the descent of the plane instead.

They were on the ground in a matter of minutes, the last bump of the airplane skiding to a halt signaling they were on the tarmac. The heat from the desert state could already be felt pulsing through the heavy metal exterior of the plane before they even had time to exit the plane. Julie had long ago abandoned her heavy coat for the soft dress shirt she had chosen to wear to the airport that morning. Adam tugged at the collar of his heavy sweatshirt when they entered the terminal and silently wished he'd dress more practical. He hadn't thought it would be this hot in Arizona. He guessed he'd been wrong. There he was telling Julie to plan for the weather and he forgot to do so himself. Truth be told when he had packed his bags to leave New York he had been packing from cold Minnesota weather so his options would have been limited to say the least. There wasn't time to ponder the thought further, picking up Julie's bag from the belt and then his own, they began to make their way to the entrance of the airport and the main ticket counters. The terminal was packed, once they made it to the opening of the airport, may people moving to and from the gates. He knew it was still the holidays so the traffic made sense. Julie's eyes scanned her surroundings like a deer walking out into an open field, just waiting for the lion to attack. She silently grabbed unto Adam's sleeve to not lose him to the crowd of people. From where Adam was, there was no sign of Greg.

"Come on." Adam softly nudged Julie to move through the crowd towards the ticket desk. They would need to survey the flights leaving shortly before they could determine what their plan would be. The way he saw it, they had two choices. A) get a rental car and drive to the next airport to lose Greg or B) get tickets on the next flight out of here, no matter where it was going. Looking up at the flight times, the first option seemed to be the more plausible idea. The only flight leaving within the next few minutes was one to New York. As much as the idea for dragging Julie back to his apartment was appealing to him, keeping her safe was more important and he knew the next place Greg would look would be his apartment once he figured out who he was. He sighed deeply, glancing behind them again to check for anyone suspicious, it wasn't a good idea to be out in plain sight like this if Greg had followed them. It was best to keep moving and not let even a few minutes of idling go by. By now Greg would know who Adam was, if he hadn't already pieced together the puzzle. They couldn't go to New York, Greg would have planned for that, so what was they're next option? Adam sighed, gripping the bags tighter and moving through the crowd once again.

"Okay, let's go." He whispered softly in her ear, nudging her forward. Julie nodded, following closely behind him as he parted the crowd to make their way through. They reached the car rental desk within a few minutes and Adam quickly provided them with the information they needed to rent him a car. He silently wondered if the credit card he gave them would allow for Greg to follow them but quickly brushed it off, thinking credit cards must be secure. The keys were handed over and they were on their way out the door before the girl behind the desk could look up from the paperwork he had filled out to tell them to have a nice vacation in Arizona. Little did she know they weren't planning on staying for very long.

The Arizona heat was almost unbearable once they were directly under the sun. Adam quickly shed his sweatshirt to the backseat of the black beetle convertible they had rented, leaving him in only his undershirt. It was one of the only cars they had left in the lot and the bug promised to give great gas miles so Adam didn't really have room to complain. He discarded the bags in the truck and quickly moved to open the driver's side door and get in. They couldn't waste any extra time. Julie climbed in the other side and he started the car, moving quickly away from the airport and into the desert heat.

"So where are we going?" Julie finally asked, looking out the window at the tall buildings in the distance, it must have been Phoenix, she thought. The city looked to be so exciting. a city surrounded by desert. She had never been to the southwest, only ever going to California once for the Goodwill Games but besides that never being anywhere but Maine and Minnesota.

"The next airport.." Adam conveyed, set on his mission to get away from the airport as fast as possible. He figured Tuscan or even Las Vegas would be the nearest airports to have flights out today. He just had to figure out which way he was going.

"And it's that way?" Julie asked, pointing ahead of them, wondering if he had planned this out at all. Adam seemed to shrug.

"Yeah, I guess." He quietly admitted, not knowing his way around Arizona anymore than she did. She looked over to his face, Julie studied his face. It was dripping with sweat in the desert heat and she worried that he could become dehydrated.

"Are you sure?" She asked one more time, not wanting to anger him but wanting to prevent them from having to return to the airport to start again. His eyes darted to the nearby signs, trying to make sense of anything in the bright sun but they wouldn't focus and let him read even what highway they were on.

"Um.." He hesitated, trying to read them again and pushing the sweat from his forehead with the palm of his hand. Julie wanted to smile at him, his rash actions always getting them into more trouble than they'd been in before. In this instance, it was impossible to have any problem bigger than Greg though, so hopefully this wouldn't be that big of an issue.

"Maybe we should stop at that general store up there and ask directions.." Julie motioned to the only store on this stretch of the road within a mile. Adam nodded absently, to sun stricken to argue. He pulled into the parking lot and parked in the first space they came to, which happened to be in the very back of the parking lot before he got out to lead her into the store.

The air conditioning of the small store felt cool to Adam's face as they entered, he was already exhausted from the heat and they hadn't even been on the road more than a few minutes. How was he going to survive the next few hours to get them where they needed to go? It was more than obvious that he lived in the north where this sort of weather was uncommon as the other people in the store stared openly at his sweat ridden appearance. He was used to blizzards and ice storms not droughts and sunburns. Julie immediately found the map section located next to the magazines and the hair care supplies. Her eyes grazed the options and finally decided on the local street map, picking it up to glance at it before she decided if it was the right one for them. It covered almost all of Arizona, right down the major roaqdways. She quickly folded it back up and handed it to Adam, who was downing a large bottle of water from the cooler. Her hand made contact with his for a brief moment that was too long to ignore. Their eyes met in an intense stare. Julie turning away first, feeling the pressure for an action she wasn't ready to commit. Throwing caution to the wind, Adam reached out and touched her shoulder, trying to relax his own thoughts. She tensed under his grip but didn't turn away or brush him off.

"Julie, it's okay for you to feel something. You're not dead." He reassured her. She nodded, knowing he was right but it still felt so wrong, like she was cheating on Greg to be thinking anything about Adam. She'd have to let that go one day, she thought with a sigh.

"It's feels like I'm betraying him. To even remember anything we had, makes me hate everything I had with him." She confessed, not turning to look at him. She turned away fast, transfixing her eyes elsewhere to control her thoughts before they got too out of hand. They fell on the hair coloring products in front of her. The picture of a pretty blonde girl stared back at her and she glanced at her mousy brown locks that were barely visible from her line of vision. She hated the color and missed her blonde hair. It was another thing he'd done to her that she would need to fix. Adam caught her line of sight, moving his hand towards her hair. She quickly straightened up and brush away the threatening tears dwelling on her eyelids.

"I'm fine, let's just get going." She said moving quickly to the counter to pay for the map. She just wanted to keep moving, it was foolish to stay in one place too long and give Greg a chance to catch up. Adam continued to stare at the boxes for a moment longer, wondering if she was thinking about dying her hair back to its original color before following Julie to the front. He paid for the map and the water. They left the store in silence, not speaking of the moment again.

The cold dark eyes of Greg Williams stared out the window of the last flight to Phoenix for the night. His face marked a determination like no other and he contemplated his next move. He had to find her. He needed to find her. She was his and no one else's, how dare she ever question that. The distant ringing of a cell phone brought him out of his thoughts and he picked it up, placing it to his ear without ever changing his expression. The annoyed stares of the other passengers in the cabin went ignored.

"Did you locate them?" He asked, his voice cold as ice.

"No, sir but we did run a trace on that guy she'd with." His faced sterner with anger.

"I want to know everything about him." He said tightening his lips against his teeth.

The Tuscan airport was almost as crowded as the Phoenix airport had been but Julie didn't mind, it allowed her to stay hidden from the rest of the people bustling around them. She'd just look like any normal traveler, going about her business to catch her flight and no one would be none the wiser of her true identity. His eyes were already scanning over the flight times and regretted stopping for directions, they had just missed the last flight out of this airport for the night, the next one didn't leave until 6 am the next morning. Adam turned to Julie, a look of sorrow on his face.

"I thought we'd have a better chance of getting out of here tonight through this airport but I guess we're staying in Arizona tonight." He said, his voice filed with regret. Her eyes filled with fear again and he mentally kicked himself for causing it.

"We'll be okay." He reassured her leaving the crowded airport to find a place to stay for the night.


	7. Chapter 7

The soft guiding rays of light from the street lamps played on Julie's exposed pale skin in the moonlight as they passed under the lit pillars. Her tank top left little to the imagination in the unbelievable heat that had just recently subsided to a dull arch in Adam's bones. He was so tired from fighting the exhaustion of the days weather that he struggled to keep his eyes open. He tried to keep his thoughts on the road but they kept falling back to her sleeping form in the seat next to him and her perfectly tanned skin he used to love to touch so much. He loved her more than anything else in the world, he would do anything for her. she would be his everything until the day he died whether she choose to be with him or not after this trip, he would always be there for her no matter what she needed. The realization was a strong one for him, he wanted her back, there was no doubt about that but how to do it was what was eluding him at the moment. He wanted the Julie she used to be back, not the scared, unopinionated woman that pretended to be her in the seat next to him. He had caught a glace of that girl in there somewhere but every time he thought Julie was coming back to him, she'd retreat back into the hard shell that she put on for everyone else. He let a heavily sigh escape his lips, leaning on the door frame with his hand and glanced one more time at her before returning to the road ahead. The headlights paved the way for him as he maneuvered through the dusty roads Arizona, not really knowing where he was going but somewhere other than they were. She had been so tired when they made it back to the car and they hadn't found anywhere to stay that he could deem safe, so he finally just told her to sleep and he'd drive to the next town, in hopes of getting an early flight there. The only problem with that was the fact that she was even more attractive to him asleep that she was awake. Asleep he could pretend that she was the same girl he fell in love with so many years before. Rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand, he tried to focus his attention back on the darken road laid out in front of them and not on the sleep that continued to crawl up on him. He had to stop this, she wasn't ready for a relationship again and he wouldn't push her into one before she was ready. But to look at her curled up next him, the wind from the open window blowing her hair in her face, he felt like he was 17 again. Maybe they could have been on a road trip to get away from everyone. No, he reminded himself, looking back on the road, he couldn't do this to her. He wouldn't let himself ruin what they had been working on getting back again. Shaking his head to let all the thoughts he had go away, he tightened his grip on the wheel and resolved himself to act like whatever she needed at the moment. If that was a friend he would be here friend. They had been driving nowhere for so long that every road seemed to be the same. He silently wondered if they were the same and he was driving in circles. Wouldn't that have been a trip and another excuse for her to hate him. The rumble of his stomach reminded him that they hadn't eat anything that day and that if she were awake, Julie would probably be hungry too. He silently hoped his stomach hadn't awoken her, letting his eyes wander back to her to see if she was awake. No, he thought glancing back again, she was still sound asleep in the same position he had last found her in. He moved his hand towards her to brush a stray hair that had fallen in her face back behind her ear. It was habit more than anything else. As he did so, she moved to rest her head on his shoulder, a grumble of contentment playing on her lips before she went back to sleep. He tried again without success to concentrate on the road in front of them but his thoughts keep drifting back to her. She was touching him, maybe not consciously but she was. Her hair tickled the bottom of his cheek and her breath came in even patterns. If now was the time to die, Adam knew he'd die happy.

The lights of a road side bar came into view on the right and Adam pulled into the deserted parking lot, surveying his surroundings. Staring up at the sign in contemplation, he looked down the road farther for any other businesses. Nothing else was in view and this was the first restaurant they had come across in the past hour. He'd have to face it that this might have been their only option for food this time of night. He slowly turned the key over to let the car die down and shifted in his seat towards the unconscious beauty resting beside him. She stirred as soon as he moved and leaned back in her seat, trying to remember how she ended up against him in the first place. Her face heated up with embarrassment and she tried to smile slightly at him to not make him feel uncomfortable at their situation.

"Where are we?" Her voice was low with sleep still resounding in it as she rubbed her eyes and tried to determine their location. Her eyes feel to the large neon sign resting against the top of the large ranch like building in front of them. She could only figure it was a bar of some sort.

"I'm not sure but I think we should grab something to eat while we can, you haven't eaten all day." He reminded her. She glanced at the bar and back at him again wondering if it would be safe inside. she didn't have much choice or many options at this point.

"Are you sure this place is okay?" She asked uncertain, her hands finding each other and ringing them together with nervousness.

"Yeah, we'll be quick. In and out." He said grabbing her hand in a reassuring squeeze before exiting the car. she didn't pull back this time, whether it be from sleep or the fact that she was growing more comfortable with him, he wasn't sure but he would take it.

The small roadside bar was packed with bikers passing through for the yearly convention just two towns over, giving Julie and Adam just the amount of cover they needed to feel secure in their own skin. Julie moved to the back of the dusty, barn like, structure until they found a vacant table to sit down and hide behind their menus. The place was less than comparable to any of the restaurants that Adam had been to in the past year, he mused, feeling a little laid back in the atmosphere. Glancing around, he found no eyes watching them and he took a deep breath. A relief in a sense, that no one seemed to care who they were and what their business was. Looking to Julie, Adam tried to smile reassuringly at her but her eyes remained down to the table. Greg usually did the ordering for her, so she was pondering what she would want off the menu, It had been far too long since she had been able to choose what she ate.

It was a few minutes before a small waitress made her way over to the table to take their order. She had her hair tied up with a pen and her white dress shirt ties at the waist.

"Welcome to the Roadside Tavern. What can I get for you?" She asked, her accent definitely Texas based in nature. Adam's mind immediately feel to one cowboy he hadn't seen in years.

"Just two burgers and two fries." Adam mumbled, glancing at Julie for approval. Her eyes were everywhere but on him and she had closed her menu many minutes before mumbling she didn't care what he ordered for her. "Anything to drink?" She asked, chewing a piece of gum between her teeth and smacking it obnoxiously against the roof of her mouth. Adam had to stop himself from staring too long.

"Just water…" He conveyed, collecting the menus from them and handing them over. She just nodded and made a note of her check pad before walking away, a swing her in her step as she went. The silence was awkward, Adam thought, lacing his fingers together on the table and staring down at them. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"Are you okay, Jules. Is this alright?" He asked, conscience of her need to be in control of the situation for right now. She nodded her head feverously, trying to convince herself she felt secure in this place. Truth be told, she felt out of her element, not knowing how to act in this situation only that she had little choice but to deal as her stomach grumbled in response. He searched her face for a moment before shifting in his seat to be slightly closer to her.

"You don't have to lie to me. If you don't want to stay, we don't have to. I'll ask them to wrap it up." He said, leaning his mouth towards her ear to whisper his proposal. He could see her silently weighing the options before nodding slowly.

"Adam, I don't think I'm ready for this. Can we just go? I… I can't be here. All these people.." She felt her face heat up with worry and her skin begin to crawl with a near to be alone. All the people around her made her feel nervous and she needed to get somewhere safe.

"Okay, I'll tell them to wrap up the food and we can go." He said standing from the booth quickly. Julie grabbed his arm in a death grip before he could get two steps away from her.

"Adam, can I wait in the car? Would that be okay? I don't feel right in here." She asked, her eyes shining brightly in the dim light with a hint of tears that might start to shed at any moment. He looked down on her, wanting to take her into his arms in a bone crushing hug and tell her everything would be alright but instead he just nodded, helping her from the booth.

"Yeah, if that's what you want." He said, loosening her grip on him and turning for the front counter. She nodded in understanding and moved from the booth towards the door, not following him. He watched her go until she was out the door and glanced out the window to see her walking towards the car, no one in sight as she went. He sighed in relief, letting the air leave his lungs and moved towards the bar to see their waitress.

"Excuse me, can we get that to go? My friend; she's not feeling too well." He tried to explained, the waitress nodded, beginning to ring out the order at the register. He paid for the food and waited while they wrapped it up, glancing once again around the bar to see if anyone was looking his direction. Everyone seemed to be going about their business, a lot of people drinking and laughing. Some people doing karaoke at the other end of the room. Moving his eyes down the bar, he found one pair of eyes staring directly at him. A man sitting at the end of the bar, drink in his right hand, cigarette in the other, stared back at Adam as if he was watching every move he made. His hair was greasy and shoulder length, someone Adam was sure he wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. His eyes reminded him of something he couldn't quite put his finger on. His stare seemed to penetrate his skin before the waitress interrupted him again.

"Here you are, sir. Thank you." The waitress said, distracting him from his thoughts and he took the food to head out of the bar quickly. Glancing once more back at the man at the end of the counter, he was no longer there, almost having disappeared into thin air. Adam shook his head to try to rid his mind of the thoughts that were running through it. He pushed open the door to make his way to the car, fumbling with the keys from his pocket. He wanted to get out of here as fast as possible, something didn't feel right about this situation. Stepping out into the warm night air, Adam was met with a fist to the mouth. His brain only register the trauma after his head made contact with the concrete of the wall. He could hear Julie cry out in fear as he fell back against the building with a thud, sliding down the side, the food he'd been carrying spilling all over the sidewalk next to him. It took a minute for him to regain enough composer to realize what was going on. His eyes settled on the cold eyes of Greg Williams sating a few feet away from him. He had Julie pushed up against the rental car, throwing hurtful words in her direction as he nearly spit each word at her from his mouth. Adam's eyes came back into focus and he began to hear what was being said for the first time.

"What did you think you were doing? You knew I would find you. Do you like to make me this angry, I wouldn't have to do this if you'd just do what you're told." Greg's voice filled the night air and Adam tried to stand again but another fist met his stomach this time, his attacker stepping into the light before him. The man that had been sitting at the end of the bar stared down at him, a playful grin on his face as Adam slid to the ground again holding his stomach. Taking a breath of his cigarette, the man watched Adam to make sure he wasn't going to try anything before turning back to Greg for instruction.

"Why wouldn't you just listen to me!" He heard Greg yell, Julie trying to explain herself before his open palm crushed her cheek against it, a resounding crack heard from her cheek being smashed. She yelped with pain, looking down at the ground to keep from crying. Her hand instinctively went to her face and she tried to sooth the aching flesh to no avail.

"You're mine, do you understand? No one will ever want you! You're trash, you're lucky I'm willing to take you back after this stunt!" He yelled against her hair, pressing his body against hers in a dominating fashion. Adam tried to move towards them but was pushed back against the wall, the man staring down at him as he pressed his boot heel into Adam's shoulder to hold him in place. Adam groaned in pain, trying to fight the man's boot from his chest.

"Julie!" He groaned, he could taste blood beginning to form in his mouth from the first shot this man had inflicted to his jaw. She didn't look at him but the sudden outburst had attracted Greg's attention. He threw Julie to the ground, next the wheel of the car, her hands slapping the gravel hard as she tried to catch herself before she ended up face first to the concrete.

"Shut up!" Greg yelled, pulling Adam to his feet against the wall but the fabric of his shirt. "You filled her head with all these ideas! She's mine!" He accused, slamming Adam's already weakened body against the hard brick to get his point across. Adam felt his head spin again, the fear of unconsciousness looming just beyond his mind. One more hit to the head and Adam feared he would be out cold for the rest of the night. Feeling Greg continue to slam him against the hard surface and yell threatening words in his direction; the only thing his mind could focus on was Julie's limp body, laying on the ground just behind Greg, her shoulders slumped and shook. She was crying, he realized with defeat. He had failed her, he had took his eyes off her for one minute and she had been put in danger. He should have stopped her, he should have know Greg would have other people to watch for them, this guy being one of them as he landed another punch to Adam's rib cage. He'd probably called Greg the minute they'd arrived. They'd been caught before they even knew it and there was nothing they could have done about it. He felt a black cloud begin to form behind his eyes and he could do nothing to stop it but watch it take over his vision. The sound of a door opening and closing somewhere near seemed millions of miles away before he was dropped to the ground, feeling all the air leave his body. He took a couple of deep breathes and spit out a mouth full of blood before his eyes came back into focus, the blackness seeping back into the recesses of his mind. Two bikers had come out of the bar to continue on their ride through town when they had come across the beaten couple being attacked by two men. Adam watched as the four men met before he tangled, throwing fists and knees. He could have only hoped for such a rescue. He only had a minute to take the advantage the bikers had given him. Looking back to the ground next to him, Julie still lay breathing deeply as her sobs seemed to subside. He crawled quickly over to her and grabbed her shoulders in his hands.

"No!" She pushed against him, her eyes filled with more tears as she struggled to get away. Adam spit out a glob of blood before he tried to speak.

"Julie, it's me. Come on!" He motioned for her to get in the car that they were resting next to. For a minute she looked as if she was deep in contemplation, looking to Greg a few feet away, still struggling to gain the upper hand against the burly biker that had come to help them.

"Come on!" He practically yelled at her before she quickly scrambled from the ground to the car door, opening it quickly to get in. He managed to pulled himself off the ground with help of the car before being slammed back into it. Greg had apparently knocked the man that had come to their defense out on the ground behind him. Julie screamed as Greg attacked Adam against the hood of the car, trying to choke him out of consciousness. Adam fought back, landing a heavy punch in Greg's abdomen, knocking the wind out of the stronger man for a moment and letting Adam move around the car in a limping pace. Greg moved to follow and Adam jumped in the car on the driver's side, locking the door before he fumbled for the keys to get the engine started. It only took a minute for him to find the right one before he slammed into the ignition. Greg was working furiously, slamming the window to try to break it open before Adam to get them out of here. The car came to life and Adam began to back up when Greg finally broke the window and grabbed a hold of his shirt where he had before. The car was still rolling back as Adam fought with Greg to get him to let go. He clawed at his fist trying to gain the upper hand. Greg jogged along the side of the car, keeping up with it's pace.

"Julie!" Adam yelled to the scared occupant of the seat next to him. She was nearly croached into the floor at the bottom of the passengers seat. "Take the wheel!" He yelled, resorting to biting at the hand of the man he was fighting with. She still didn't move at first, shaking her head frantically and hugging her knees to her chest to try to find comfort in the situation.

"Julie! I need you to take the wheel!" He yelled again pushing at the angry Greg as he tried to pull him from the car, he had him nearly out the window when they made it to the road. Julie looked up, meeting Adam's eyes for a moment before she grabbed the wheel with such force, her knuckles began to turn white. She quickly shifted as the road came under the tires and she moved towards him to try to control the car as the fight ensued next to her. She ducked a stray punch from Greg and nailed the brakes quickly to try to throw him off the car. Throwing the car into drive she watched as the fight continued against the car, Greg had swung a leg on the hood to kept from being thrown off when she had initially stomped on the brakes. Watching the scuffle for a few more seconds, Julie felt the anger she had for this man building up inside her. Why couldn't he just let her go? She had to stop this before he killed Adam. She grabbed the seat belt fast, quickly wrapping it around Adam and herself before snapping it shut into the buckle.

"Hang on!" She breathed against Adam's ear, slamming the gas as hard as she could to get the car moving. The car took off down the open road as Greg stopped his fight with Adam to concentrate on hanging on.

"Julie! What are you doing?" He yelled, through the glass windshield. "when we get home!" He tried to threaten but he threat went unnoticed. She ignored the question and let the car gain speed before stomping on the brakes causing Adam and herself to jolt forward. Greg roll off the front of the hood, unable to hold on any longer and stumbled to a stance just beyond the bumped. He stood in front of the car, in the headlights, his eyes sending a shot of fear through Julie's veins.

"Julie!" He yelled in his most threaten tone he had ever had with her. Adam looked over at her, her eyes staring intently in front of them.

"Julie?" He asked just as she hit the gas and tore ahead, narrowly missing Greg as he jumped out of the way.

Her hands were shaking with a mixture of fear and anger, letting them finally loosen from the wheel. Adam could feel her body shaking at the points where his form met hers. He knew she didn't want him to touch her and he could respect that, instead, he placed his hands on the wheel opposite of hers.

"Julie, let go." He whispered as softly as possible. He moved his foot to take over for hers and took control of the moving vehicle. She quickly unhooked the belt and moved back into her own seat, her hands clutched together to control the violent shaking. Pulling her knees against his chest in a protective manner again, her eyes scanned the road side as they passed. Adam glanced at her every few minutes to make sure she was okay before pulling off the road.

"What are you doing? He's going to follow us!" She yelled at him, trying to make him continue. He placed the car in park to look at her.

"Julie, calm down!" He ushered, trying to sooth her. Her face was red and tears began to fall down her cheeks creating lines of paled skin against the redden patches on her cheeks.

"We need to go!" She cried, holding her head in her hands to try to control her anguish.

"Okay, okay. " He finally agreed, pulling back on the road. He had wanted to talk to her about what had just happened but he wasn't going to force her. She'd tell him in her own time.


	8. Chapter 8

The sun was beginning to rise in the sky just ahead of Adam's vision just off the horizon. A sign on the side of the road told him that Texas was finally within their reach, his chest loosening a little at the thought. His eyes burned with a tired ache, the kind he'd only felt one time before in his life when the team had a boys sleepover at Charlie's apartment and had ended up staying up all night only to find out they had practice in the morning. He would never agree to that again, he thought with a groan. His stomach ached from the shots he'd taken to his abdomen and he knew for sure he had a broken tooth or two. To top that all off, his eye lids felt heavy, he was losing the battle to keep them open and quickly fall asleep. Using every muscle in his face, he concentrated to keep them open long enough to glance at the girl sitting next to him and wonder if they could switch positions to keep moving. She hadn't uttered a word to him all night, she hadn't slept either or moved from the position she was in now, which was knees tucked against her chest and her arms wrapped around them, her back stiff against the passenger's seat. For a moment he worried that she was even alive enough to respond to him if he tried to talk to her but he had to do something.

"Julie… I got to stop. I can't keep driving like this.." He whispered, her face finally turning to him with a look of disbelief. His entire body ached with exhaustion and he needed a couple hours of sleep before he could continue the way they had been. Julie looked to him frantically, dropping her legs to the floor in front of her and turning in her seat.

"We can't stop! Adam, he'll find us…" She nearly cried as he pulled over to the side of the road. Adam turned to her as she began to reach for the gears to get the car going again and blocked her hands before they could get them into an accident.

"Julie, calm down… I won't let anything happen to you.. I just can't keep my eyes open anymore…" He whispered, holding her at arm's length to keep her from reaching the wheel and the shifting stick. Her eyes finally softened when she realized just how desperate he was. After searching his eyes for a long moment, she finally nodded in agreement to stop but felt herself bubbling with anger.

"I don't think you can protect me.." Her words weren't filled with distain but understanding that this wasn't a normal situation they had found themselves in. There was something about Greg that no one knew, ever herself. The man they were running from had some sort of political power or undercover connections that allowed him to track them down everywhere they went. Or maybe it was just blind luck he kept finding them, either way, they were doing something wrong that required them to change their plan. Adam wasn't strong enough for another fight like the one the night before. Adam stared into her eyes for another long moment, analyzing what she meant by her statement before letting go of her arms and backing up. He was too tired to fight with her and somewhere deep down he knew she was right. He didn't want to in the first place, his body was protesting the idea of another fight now. Yes, Greg was bigger and it looked like he had more upper body strength then Adam had ever bothered to build, still Adam would die if it meant protecting Julie. His eyes stared out in front of them, the silence hitting Julie like a ton of bricks to the chest as she realized what she had said to him.

'Adam.." She tried to start to explain when he cut her off.

"No, you're right. I can't protect you all the time. That's why we're not going to make it unless you start trying to protect yourself!" Adam sternly replied, never moving his gaze from the front windshield. Julie was silent for a few minutes, trying to contain the tears she felt forming behind her eyes. She had tried for months to protect herself from that man and had failed each time. The fight that she might have had left in her, was dwindling to nothing before her very eyes. He finally looked over at her and felt his heart melt at the sight. She was trying to contain the few stray tears that had begun to fall but was doing a poor job of it, rubbing at her eyes to not let one hit the ground. He reached his hand out to brush the lines of sadness from her pale face but stopped just short of touching her. She hadn't wanted his touch before, she'd been gripped with fear each time he tried to comfort her but maybe this time, he thought, a sense of hope entering his mind. His arm extended the remainder of the distance and brushed along her tightened cheek bone, feeling the bone underneath and it's jagged edges. She didn't cry out, she was used to this pain now, her face wouldn't be the same again but at least she had Adam. She turned slightly to him and closed her eyes to the touch. The soft wetness of her cheek and the tense feeling of fear that was pulsing through her was all Adam could feel from their connection.

"I'm sorry.." He whispered softly, leaning into her ear to whisper into her hair. Her fear lightened just a bit as his thumb grazed her cheek, removing the last of her tears as they fell and soothing the burning flesh that ached below his finger tips.

"Julie, you're the strongest woman I've ever know. You can do anything you set your mind to, even beat this jerk. Jules, I know you, I know that Julie "The Cat" Gaffney is still in there somewhere. I saw her last night. You have to help me for us to get through this." He continued to whisper, trying to keep his voice soft and encouraging rather than anger and demanding. "Now if you don't think you can do that… I think we should find the nearest police station and turn this bastard in while we still can." He said before Julie's eyes darted in his direction, a look of worry etched into her features.

"I've file cases with the police before. Nothing ever happened. They'd just take the information and the next thing I know he'd be out of jail and madder than ever." She shook her head in defense. Lifting her sleeve to show him a set of burn marks on her forearm. "These are what he gave me the last time I tried to turn him in." She softly whispered, touching the scared flesh with her thumb. Adam ran a finger over them as well before tightening his lips to his teeth,

"We have to try, Julie. We can't just let him win, I will never let you go back to him. Ever." He promised with stern eyes blazing before her head moved only slightly in acknowledgement of his promise.

"Okay, let's go to the police first." She agreed, resting her head back on her knees that she had brought back up to her chest. What more could he possibly do to them that he hadn't already done?

"Okay." He nodded briefly before shifting the car back in motion, hopefully it wasn't too far to the nearly police state, he could barely keep his eyes open as it was.

The smell of coffee and doughnuts wafted through the tiny space of the waiting area, the hard chairs and coffee table filling the largely unused space. Adam rested uncomfortably back against the hard metal chair, his abdomen aching with each movement that he took. Her eyes scanned the floor the way they did that first day he'd seen her again. She was nervous to no end, glancing around the room as if looking for someone to go back and tell Greg what she was doing.

"Julie.." His feather-light voice caught her attention. "He's not here. We're still okay.." He tried to reassure her. She nodded to him, trying to at least ease his mind that she would be okay, no matter what the outcome might be here. Her mind raced in her head with memories of what she endured the last time she stepped into one of these places. It wasn't like she was helpless, she'd tried her best to get away from him on her own. No one cared though, she was just another battered woman to them, in a long line of women to pass through those ugly metal doors. Before Adam had come to get her she was doomed to become a statistic.

"Julie?" A female officer asked, coming to stand in front of them. Her eyes looked down at the defeated woman with worry and concern before she reached her hand out to help Julie up. Julie's eyes remained on the floor, she acknowledged the woman with a small nod of her head, never taking the outstretched hand.

"I'm Officer Smith, head of domestic abuse here. You want to come and talk with me, you can tell me what's going on.." Her voice was soft and caring as Julie nodded before standing from her seat next to Adam. He began to stand too to go with them when the Officer held up her hand to stop him.

"Please, we ask that she give her statement alone. No pressure from outside parties." The woman gently responded. Adam nodded only once, meeting Julie's eyes as if to say he would be here when she was done. She nodded back, following the office through another set of double doors leading to the back. He lowered his body back to the hard metal chair was a groan as Julie and the officer disappeared around the corner.

The room Julie was brought to was pure white with a hard looking metal table and chair set in the center. It looked almost like an interrogation room to her, not that she'd even been in one before but evening television had given her a picture in her mind to base her knowledge from. The room was cold and drafty, though no windows were present in the entire space.

"Please, have a seat Mrs. Williams." The woman said, Julie sitting slowly in the chair furthest away from the door. Looking at the mirror glass on her right, Julie realized just how bad she looked after the encounter with Greg the night before. Her cheek was bruised from the bone to the jaw and her lip on that same side was cut open, dried blood caked into the cut. It was no longer bleeding but it still looked horrible to look at. Officer Smith placing another chair directly across from her, brought her attention back to the woman in front of her and what she was here to do.

"Okay, Mrs. Williams, tell me what's going on?" Her voice was calm and reassuring but Julie's stare never left the floor to her right side, her lips quivering with fear.

"It's okay to talk to me. You're safe here." Julie's eyes began to wander up to the cold hard metal of the table, slowly making their way to the officer.

"I'm not safe anywhere from him, not even here." Her voice remained low, always kept at an even pace. The office almost felt a little uneasy about her calmness given the situation.

"Julie, I know you're scared but trust me, you are completely safe here." She tried to reach across the table to grip Julie's hand in reassurance but Julie moved her tightly gripped palms off the table to her lap, much like she had done to Adam a few days before. The officer looked Julie up and down slowly before retreating her outstretched palm back across the cool surface of the table and re-gripping her pen that she had been planning to take notes with.

"Okay, why don't you just give us your husband's name or whoever did this to you and we will bring him in. Let's start there, shall we?" The woman tried to open the conversation. Julie almost felt her lip curl up into a smile at the irony of the statement.

"You're just going to bring him in, to talk to him and then just let him go again. I've done this enough times to know how you operate." Julie nearly laughed. The officer's eyes turned down towards the paper and pen that sat in front of her on the desk. "I'd like to see you try to bring him in..." Julie followed up, thinking of how many cops it would take to bring her psychotic husband in.

"No…No, not necessarily. If you press charges we can hold him until he can post bail, even then he wouldn't be allowed to leave the area. I'm sure you'll be impressed with our police force." The officer tried to assure. Julie shook her head in response.

"No, I've tried that before too. He just posts bail and tries to injure me again until I agree to drop the charges. What guarantees do I have that he won't kill me before we can even see a judge?" Julie's eyes finally met the woman's and she pleaded with her silently to give her something to go on.

"We can give you a restraining order." The Officer offered, pulling the paperwork from the file.

"I've had one of those before." Julie's voice cutting off the police officer in mid sentence. "You know what he did with that restraining order? He did this.." Julie said holding up her arm to reveal a scar long since healed but never forgotten, "He lit that paper up with a match and then burned me with it so I'd remember for next time." Julie's eyes were cold and unfeeling, she wasn't going to cry, she needed this woman to understand the horrors she'd went though. The officer sat straighter up in her hard metal chair and cleared her throat.

"Okay, well…" She was at a lack of words. "Well, we can assign an undercover police officer to guard you at all times until we can get a hearing set or we can take you into protective custody..." The officer tried to lay out some different options. Julie shook her head to all of them.

"He managed to find me 10 states away, where could you possibility put me where he wouldn't look?" She shook her head again, looking down at the table with distain. "And I'm not bring anyone else into this, I've already successfully ruined Adam's life…" She could feel the tears brimming on her over tired eye lids at the mere thought that Adam's life would never be the same again after the mess she was putting him through.

"Look we can send you out of the country... There's a million places for you to go, it'd take him up until the trial to find you and we'd have him on leaving the country during his bailed release." The officer countered. Julie shook her head again,

"No, I can't leave Adam. Greg already knows he's involved." Her face was stern and unmoving. The officer nodded her head in agreement, finally picking up the pen she had placed on the table between them.

"Okay, you just tell me what you want from us and you got it. I'm fresh out of ideas." The officer said sitting back in her chair with a squeak of the legs on the marble floor and stared at Julie with wondering eyes.

"You know him better than anyone else, he's your husband…" She tried to coax. Julie's eyes darted around the room at that moment, feeling a set of eyes on her and a cold fear creep up her back. Her eyes fell on the mirror to their right again and her reflection stared back at her, her own fear reflecting in her eyes.

"Is there anyone in that room?" Julie asked quickly standing from her seat and knocking over the chair she had been sitting in.

"No, we're completely alone…" The officer shook her head, sitting up in her seat again to shake her head at the thought someone was watching them. The other guys knew better than to do that when she was handling a case.

"Can you check please.." Julie asked, her eyes remaining on the mirror. The officer sighed a little with the lack of cooperation she was getting from Mrs. Williams before she stood from her chair.

"Okay, if it would make you feel better…" She sighed, moving towards the door of the room to open it and enter the hallway. Julie gripped the metal table against her outstretched palm just waiting for something to happen.

Adam Banks tried to stretch out on the hard metal chairs of the waiting room, his eyes opening from a peaceful ten minute slumber. Gripping his jacket over his chest, his head fell back against the chair next to him and his eyes rested on the ceiling fluorescent lights and the old chipped ceiling tiles. The place sure was quiet for a police station, even for a Sunday, he mused. There were no ringing phones, the guy that had been seated at the front desk when they walked in was now gone. His coffee still steaming with heat, sat on the counter, completely forgotten. A strange feeling ran over his body and he involuntarily shook with a chill pulling the jacket more on himself. He shook his head, it must just be the air conditioning in this place, he thought silently. His mind wandered over the events that lead him here, to this place. He couldn't protect her, the idea stuck to his mind like glue. He just wasn't strong enough. A slight vibration against his thigh caused Adam to mumble a few choice words before he grimly sat up and pulled the object making the fuss from his pants pocket. The small flip phone did it's familiar dance in the palm of his hand. The caller ID read a number he didn't want to read but if he didn't pick up she'd just call again until he did. Sighing heavily he looked around again now that he was awake and sitting up. The entire station from what he could see was deserted. Looking around cautiously, he flipped the phone open and stood to look around some more.

"Mom, this really isn't a good time." He mumbled into the receiver, moving to look around the corner where they had taken Julie and seeing a vacant hallway.

"It's a good time, Adam! What is going on with you? Your Father and I sat down to watch your game tonight, you know, the one to decide if you guys get to the playoffs or not and you're not there!" She yelled into the receiver. Adam held the phone away from his ear, moving slowly around the corner, his sneakers squeaked involuntarily on the floor.

"Where are you! You're coach has no idea!" His Mother's voice was still shouting in the background, Adam moved towards the first door to his right. It was a vending machine room and no one was inside.

"Adam, do you want to ruin your future!" His Mother still shouted as he returned the phone to his ear.

"Mom, I got to go…" He mumbled before his Father's voice came on the line to continue with their assault.

"Adam, you get your butt back to New York and fix this mess! I will not see you ruin your future like your brother has!"

"Dad, I have to go, I think Julie's in trouble…" He mumbled, taking the phone away from his ear.

"Julie…" His Dad shot back, "Are mixed up with her again?" He shouted into the phone. "She was nothing but trouble for you!" His Father's voice was cut prematurely as Adam closed the phone and pocketed it back into his jeans again. Moving slowly down the hall, he came to another hall leading down in a different direction of the first. Still no one in sight, he thought moving ever so slowly as to not make a sound. The door to his right in this second hall sat slightly ajar and Adam peaked in around the corner to look for anyone. The room was dark but the light coming in from the open wooden blinds set a stream of light across the floor and unto a lump in the center of the room. Adam's mind gripped with terror when he realized what he was looking at. The officer that had check them in, now lay, face down on the floor of what he could only describe as a storage room, a line of blood trailing from his open mouth, his eyes open in the darkness.

"Sir…" Adam tried weakly, moving into the room and kneeling next to the officer. He didn't move, his eyes cast widely open, a look of fear forever imprinted in their depths. The sight was one Adam would never forget. Glancing back at the door Adam heard footsteps coming down the hall as a fast pace. His eyes darted around the room for something to use, anything to aid him against the attacker. They finally lay on the night stick the officer had apparently tried to use in defense, it was gripped in his right hand with every muscle in his body. Prying the object from the man's cold fingers, Adam stepped towards the open door and listened with intensity. The steps were coming from the way he had come, moving at a fast pace. Gripping the heavy metal object, Adam prepared himself to fight. The footsteps came closer with every passing minute, Adam could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, this was it. Adam swung the door open at high speed and threw everything he had into his swing, knocking the intruder to the ground. Adam's breathe was ragged as he gripped the stick for another swing but found he didn't need to. The man lay on the floor, his limbs stretched out to each side of him, his head resting against the floor. It was the man from the night before at the bar. Adam quickly bent down to search him clothes for anything that might be of some use. Pulling a few items from his pockets, Adam looked over the items, every so often, glancing to each end of the hall for anyone else. The man had no forms of identification on him but a barcode like scanning bar, placed in a neatly enclosed plastic card holder. He had no keys on him but a lighter and some matches from a place called the pussycat club. Adam quickly searched for anything else he might carry, reaching for his jacket pockets. The man was dressed in a neatly iron suit, hair slicked back from his face, the pockets of the jacket gave Adam two more clues he shoved into his pocket quickly without looking at them before his thoughts were sent elsewhere. A scream came violently down the hallway, Adam stood up quickly, it was Julie. Without so much as a thought to the consequences, Adam grabbed the gun the man had been holding and quickly ran down the hall towards where the scream came from. A woman officer lay just beyond the corner as he rounded it, almost tripping over her lifeless body.

"Julie!" He yelled, swinging open the last door to the right of the new hall. She came at him with the pen that had been left on the table, her only option for a weapon.

"Julie. It's me!" He yelled gripped her hands as she tried to attack him. He gripped her arms pulling them down at her sides and crashed his lips down to hers. The kiss was nothing like he had imagined the first time he'd kiss her again would be. it was sloppy and uncoordinated. Her body was tense at first before she melted to him, dropping the pen to the floor and gripping his arms in her hands. He finally let go of her and she stared at him with confusion marking her face.

"We have to get out of here…" He said awkwardly, pulling her with him as he picked up the gun, he'd dropped, off the floor. She nodded in agreement, finally calm and thinking clearly instead of in a panic.

"He's here…I know it.." She mumbled, gripping the back of his shirt in her tightly clasped hands. He looked around frantically but there was no window to escape through in this room.

"Perfect, he's got us just where he wants us!" Adam hissed, moving about the room to look for options. "Who the hell puts two cops on to run an entire station!" He yelled in frustration. Julie moved to open the door and checked out in the hall for anyone.

"Adam, come on!" She said, moving out the door and to the end of the hall they found themselves in. There was a window just at the end, letting the sunlight pour in. Julie quickly tried to open it but it was nailed shut, probably to prevent anyone from escaping.

"Damn it!" She yelled in frustration, looking back the way they came. Another man in a business suit rounded the corner and began to come after them. Adam quickly broke the window, pushing Julie to go through it quickly. He pointed the gun in the direction of the man and fired two shots without looking. The man was caught in the arm, sending him spinning with the force of the bullet into the wall. Adam followed Julie just as the man let off one shot, nailing Adam in the shoulder and stumbling to the ground where he remained.

"Adam!" Julie called out, quickly knelling next to him to survey the damage.

"Go!" He shouted, trying to stand again but tripping over his feet. Julie nodded, making it to the car, Adam just behind her, gripping his shoulder with his other hand, the gun still gripped in the his wounded arm's hand. She started the car quickly and they pulled out of the parking lot, heading towards the wooded area of the highway as fast as they could.


	9. Chapter 9

The sun shining down through the cascading trees of the wooded area, flashed its rays into the windshield of the speeding car; catching the unsuspecting driver by surprise. Julie pulled the sun visor down in front of her eyes quickly, trying to keep her concentration on the road and not on the man next to her. Her glistening orbs scanned once to the passenger to her right side to find him reaching for his forgotten sweatshirt in the vacant backseat with some difficulty. Blood seeped from the open wound in his shoulder and flowed down his useless arm at an alarming pace. Julie looked at the pool beginning to form just above his palm on the seat. It was too much blood, she thought with panic. She tried to look back at the road but found her eyes moving back to Adam with worry. He had tied the sweatshirt around the back of his shoulder to keep the blood inside his body but so far it was not working as he had planned. Julie's eyes continued to double back to Adam's crimson liquid flowing from his veins. How did Greg keep finding them? She wondered. How could this happen? How could she let this happen? She let Adam get hurt, she kept leading Greg to her somehow. She felt trapped and violated and squirmed in her seat with worry all this running wouldn't mean anything. The urge to search her body was overwhelming, Julie grabbing at her collar, her pockets anywhere something could be hidden. Could Greg have planted something on her in their last encounter? Was there something in her clothes? Julie's hands flew frantically in search when the car started to shake violently, sending a chill down her shine. This could not be happening, she thought.

"No, Not Now!" She yelled at the car, tightening her grip on the steering wheel and trying to ignore it as much as she could.

"Damn, we're out of gas..." He mumbled next to her, tightening the shirt he had around his shoulder to a bone breaking firmness. He felt the muscles left in his shoulder tighten and contract at the pressure, sending an unbelievable ache in his left side, his muscles spasming under the added weight. Julie coasted the car off the road and locked it in the parked position before turning to Adam, not sure what to do. Hs face was draining of blood, her lips turning unnaturally pale but he was still fighting to get his wound under control.

"We need to get you to a hospital. You've lost a lot of blood." She whispered, glaring again at the injured man next to her, her hands moving to her hair before she reached forward to try to help.

"It's a little late for that.." He tried to laugh to ease the tension of the situation. Julie didn't smile, she knew the consequences of the amount of blood he'd already lost. Adam tried to focus on her to keep himself awake but felt his head getting lighter with each passing second and each frantic heart beat. There was no way he would be able to make it through the woods to the next town and she definitely couldn't carry him so what would they do? He knew, deep down, this could be the end for him but he still tried to fight the pull behind his eyes.

"Adam, look at me!" She begged, trying to keep him focused on something and motivated to stay awake, if he fell unconscious it could very well be the last time she would see his blue eyes. She pushed on the sweatshirt against his skin to put pressure on the wound, receiving in return another gush of blood from the ugly opening. She cringed at the sight, trying to hold her gag reflex as she tried to examine the wound to see why it was bleeding so much. Adam took a deep breath, holding it in for a moment to steel himself from the pain as he looked down at her.

"Julie, do you know what you're doing?" He asked, suddenly taking in the soft scent of her hair that was so close to his nose. He took a small pleasure in being able to be this close to her if it was to be his last minutes. He wasn't used to her hair being brown but it still lingered with the same familiar scent he'd smelled so many times before. He tried to breath deep and enjoy this moment but the throbbing in his shoulder kept him distracted. It was good though, if he could feel pain that mean he was still alive.

"Adam, I was pre-med before I married Greg.." She reminded him, a hint of nervousness resounding in her voice. She wasn't confident in herself, let alone in things she studied years before to save Adam's life. Her hands shook slightly as she tried to control them with all her might to get a clear look at the wound and what she would need to do to treat it. The wound was nothing like the pictures she'd studied in her biology class. Trying to remember where things were, she felt his shoulder to trace the major body parts to try to figure out what was wrong. Her mind raced with words she hadn't heard in years and tried to put together what had happened in his shoulder.

"It passed right through your shoulder Adam..."She said, certain there was no bullet still present in the wound. The exit wound on the back of his chest was also a clear indication that it had torn through his flesh. The blood kept obscuring her work. "I think it hit an artery. There's so much blood..." She mumbled more to herself then to him, trying to clear her view with her fingers. "I can't see anything clearly." If that was the case, he had a good chance of bleeding to death before they could find any form of civilization again. She hoped against hope she was wrong and that the bullet had hit superficial blood vessels. Combined with the fast pace of his heart, she prayed the blood would stop soon. She felt her eyes tear up as she couldn't do anything but wait. She looked up at him, her breath heavy with worry for the man sitting in front of her. His eyes met hers, looking deep in the blue orbs, a feeling of lost time came over him. His mind suddenly wished he could take back the last few years. He wished he could have spared her any pain she endured and for a moment he wished it had been him instead of her.

"Jules?" He whispered, reaching his good hand up to her face. He needed to make his peace if this was the end.

"Adam, just keep looking at me, okay?" She asked. "It will stop..." She thought herself. He could feel her worriedness as she avoided his stare and instead looked back at the opening in his skin, begging it to stop seeping.

"Julie, you can't do anything here. Look, just run, run as fast as you can until you can't run anymore. Get as far away from here as possible before he follows us." Adam said sternly, forcing her to look up at him.

"No, no, Adam. I will not leave you! Listen to me, I can't lose you again and know it's my fault I got you into this." She pleaded with him not to send her away. She grabbed his shirt in her grip before meeting his eyes with her own. She would not leave him until she knew for sure The car was silent for a long moment, all that existed in the world to him was her. She looked so frightened and scared of what was to come, her face could not hide the fact she was trying not to cry. He rubbed his thumb across her redden cheek with reassurance and opened his mouth to speak when an almost silent beep came from the car. Julie turned towards the dashboard at the same moment Adam's eyes grazed the car for any sign of the disturbance.

"What was that?" She asked, feeling her blood speed up in her veins, now knowing for sure their car was bugged. He was too weak to move but he managed to shush her all the same so he could listen for the noise again. Julie's eyes focused back on Adam's shoulder to keep it still and the bandage tight. She eyes scanned the car before she reached to wrap her forgotten scarf around the wound and usher him out of the car while she held his shoulder. For all their knew it could have been a bomb planted by one of Greg's hired men. With Adam leaning against the nearest tree, Julie turned her attention back to the vacant car to look for the source of the noise. The small chirp now sounded from the underside of the car as she circled it, she eyes scanning carefully each crevice within its construction. Could it be a bomb? She asked herself. Was Greg that sick that if he couldn't catch them, he'd blow them up instead. Many questions were running through her head as she ducked down to look under the front of the car, her hair brushing the against the dirt. Adam felt his head getting exponentially lighter, His face draining of all color. He couldn't stand any longer and he slid down the trunk of the tree to the ground at the base with a quick thump, catching Julie's attention.

"Adam?" Julie gasped, running over to him with a rush of energy. She gripped his ribs on each side in her hands to keep him sitting up straight and not toppling over like she felt him wanting to do. The beeping was now the farthest thing from her mind as she tried to make Adam focus on her and keep him with her. She needed him, to think she could do this on her own was absurd. She would have been back with Greg days ago if not for him.

"Adam, look at me?" She asked as he looked passed her and under the edge of the car. His eyes came back into focus and he could make out a small antenna coming from under the car. Julie put her hand on his cheek to make him look at her.

"Adam?" She questioned, worry in her voice that this could really be it if her diagnosis had been right.

"Jules, look?" He whispered, taking another deep breathe in and using all his energy to outstretch his hand. She turned to look back at the car and saw an antenna perched just behind the passenger's side front wheel, a small light beeping from it. Taking a glance back at Adam, she crawled to the tire and looked at the device with interest.

"Property of Rental One Rentals." She mumbled trying to piece together this new information and figure out how they had missed it.

"Adam, do you still have that rental agreement?" She asked, crawling back to him to help him search his pockets. There was blood on everything they touched but she looked for something that looked like the paper she had seen.

"Glove compartment.." He whispered, placing his uninjured hand over his shoulder to apply pressure and allow her to let go again. Julie opened the box with a bang and threw all the papers out on the seat, searching through the folds. The rental agreement was the only yellow paper in the mix and she plucked it from the pile, quickly scanning over it. Her eyes read quickly and she sighed, leaning against the car

"Adam, they install trackers on all their rentals in case of an emergency." Julie mumbled, wanting to kick the car in anger. "When we ran out of gas, it automatically kicked on." She said, balling up the agreement in her hands.

"Where's that on there?" Adam asked, reaching for the paper. She sighed again, smoothing out the edges she had crinkled. She didn't give it to him right away, instead she read the rest of the agreement with earnest. "This tracking device can be used in conjunction with local and national law enforcement agencies and in criminal proceedings." She mumbled before handing the paper over to him with a huff and turned towards the car to eye it with distain.

"We need to keep moving.." She whispered after a minute of contemplation. If the cops could track them then Greg could definitely find them. Grabbing anything she thought they'd need from the car, Julie packed a bag quickly, before searching the trunk. She found an emergency first aid kit in the trunk compartment and pocketed that in her bag. Pulling everything she didn't need out and dumping it on the ground, she began to load it with hers and Adam's stuff and her shoe box. In all actuality she didn't know what they would need but took whatever may have been of some usefulness. She slung the bag over her shoulder and closed the trunk with a bang. If there was ever a time for her to show Julie Gaffney again, now was the time. She had come this far. She had been shot at, she had been abused for how many years and they shot Adam, she was done with the helpless wife act. Opening the door once more, she grabbed the lost gun from the floor of the passenger's seat and placing it in her bag where she could grab it fast if need be. She's never shot one before but she would learn quickly.

"Come on.." She whispered, helping Adam up from the ground and beginning to move away from the car.

"Jules.." He whispered, his head falling to her shoulder from his lack of strength.

"I'm not leaving you!" She said firmly, wrapping her arm around his waist to support him against her. If anything the years of abuse had made her stronger. Adam didn't fight her but draped his good arm over her shoulder and pulled her close.

They walked for what seemed like hours until Adam's groans of pain became too much for Julie to ignore any longer.

"Adam, you have to help me here, okay? No falling asleep.." She reminded him. He tried to nod but couldn't keep his eyes open. His lids were just too heavy, his mind to distant from reality. He'd lost a lot of blood but at least he was still talking.

"We need to stop, I can't keep going?" He said, moving to the nearest tree to clumsily fall against it and take a few deep breaths.

"No, Adam. We need to keep going.." Julie said, trying to move him by herself. He was too heavy for her to carry on her own but she made a good show, inching him away from the tree before Adam shook his head no, reaching back for the bark.

"Julie, no, I need to rest. You keep going!" He whispered, leaning heavily against the pine and pushing her away to arms length.

"Adam, no, come on. You can't rest, we need to keep going and find someone to help you. I still don't know if the bleedings stopped." She tried to convey the importance of him seeking help. He only shook his head in response.

"No.." Adam whispered closing his eyes to the sun overhead. It was doing little to help in his struggle to stay upright. Julie sighed, tossing the bag she'd been carrying down on the ground and digging through it for the first aid kit. She hadn't wanted to do this out in the middle of the woods but it was apparent that Adam was not going to be able to continue until she at least cleaned up his wound and saw what was going on. Adam sighed, sitting down across from her and taking in a few deep breaths.

"What are you doing?" He asked, breathing heavy and trying to refocus his eyes on her.

"I'm going to try to at least stop the breeding until we can get out of these woods. I don't even know where we are since we can't follow the road." Julie mumbled, finally finding what she was looking for and pulling the box out. Adam watched every move she made as she laid out the gauze and tape from the bag on the soft grass next to his foot.

"Adam, can you take your shirt off?" She asked, trying not to look him in the eye as she asked the question. She was still feeling uncomfortable with intimate situations but she was trying to not think about it so she could help him. He slowly nodded, pulling the tank top over his head with his one good hand. He groaned with pain as it left his shoulder last. She finished laying out the items she would need from the kit, there wasn't much she could use but it would have to do and she looked up at the man in front of her. Her eyes worried she wouldn't remember her classes. It had been so long since Julie had seen Adam without a shirt on, she felt her heart almost stop at the sight in front of her. He was still the same, well defined man she remembered from high school. She had to look down at what she was doing to keep her mind straight. She could do this, she didn't want him to touch her anyway, she wouldn't be able to handle it. Yet, her mind kept drifting the a night long ago that was fogged over with the mist of time in her mind. Valentine's night in the cabin by the lake. The Valentine's day they had spent together. The way Adam had held her. The way he had made love to her with all the love he possessed for the entire night. She moved closer to him, trying to focus on his shoulder instead of on his bare chest. Taking a deep breath, she reached for his shoulder and began to clean the wound with the alcohol from the box and a bandage she had unwrapped.

"Ow..." He whispered, trying not to pull back but the pain was evident on his face. The stinging had fully awoken him and he looked down at her, her brown hair fell around her face as she blew on the alcohol to make it dry faster and ease his suffering. Her eyes glanced up at his for a brief moment before refocusing on her task.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." She mumbled, looking up in his eyes again. Adam didn't say anything but lifted his hand to her cheek to cup her face. A small hiss escaped her lips as her eyes shut to the touch. Her mind was already conflicted and he had to go and touch her.

"Adam, don't." She mumbled, pulling away fast. He looked away with embarrassment of his actions.

"I didn't mean to..."

"Adam, just let me fix your shoulder. I can't deal with us right now." She murmured, returning to his shoulder to look at the opening that was now exposed to her eyes. Adam nodded,

"I'm sorry.." He mumbled. Julie didn't say anything but continued her work in silence. She couldn't handle him touching her now. He was only trying to be like they use to be but they could never get back there. It would never be the same for them, Greg would always be in the back of her mind, ruining any chance they ever had to be completely one again. The feeling of his body near hers sent a drawling feeling down her arm and she closed her mind to remind herself she was far away from Greg and he couldn't hurt her. She couldn't admit this to him now, when she was begging him to hold on and fight to get through this. She couldn't admit her doubts that they'd ever find what they had again. She couldn't admit that she would probably never be the same again after what she'd gone through. She quickly examined the wound, finding that the bleeding had stopped on its own and the bullet had in fact went through more muscle tissue than veins but had broken his collar bone in the process. Julie cringed at the sight and began to bandage it as best she could with what she had. She finished and turned away from Adam,

"You... you can put your shirt back on, I'm done. it was just superficial bleeding, like I thought." She mumbled, not looking at him. "You have a broken bone and some muscle damage. It will probably take some physical therapy to be able to use that shoulder and arm again and you'll defiantly need stitches but I think we can keep moving." She quickly rinsed her hands with the alcohol and packed up everything else, still not meeting his eyes. Adam threw his shirt back on with a groan and rested his head back against the tree trunk. At least he wasn't dying today. Julie remained turned away from him, staring out into the wilderness, her mind wandering from topic to topic.

"Julie.." Adam mumbled, she turned quickly to look at the man on the ground, her mind still elsewhere.

"Yeah?" She asked, coming to kneel next to him.

"What do you know about Greg's job?" He asked, straining to move to his side to look at her. She looked down at the ground, a little relived to be on to another topic and not their relationship or lack thereof.

"I...I don't know much. He told me he was a sports agent. He was always gone on business trips, sometimes a week at a time. It was like a vacation when he'd go away so I really didn't look into it too much." She admitted. Adam nodded in response.

"Does any of this mean anything to you?" Adam asked, dropping the lighter, pack of matches, ID card, pack of cigarettes and sun glasses to the ground. Julie looked them over with questioning eyes.

"Where did you get this stuff?" Julie asked, looking over the contents of Adam's pocket and randomly picking stuff up now.

"I picked it off that guy from the bar, along with the gun." He mumbled. Julie sat back on her heels looking over the items with interest.

"Adam, they look like common things for a guy to carry, except maybe this..." She mumbled picking up the ID barcode from the pile to inspect it. Sudden movement behind them cause them to hear a twig snap a few feet back. They both looked up at that moment, waiting to see someone standing there waiting to kill them. They remained silent for a long moment, not moving or making any noise before a squirrel appeared from behind a nearby tree. Julie took a deep breath.

"Adam, I think we should keep moving.." She mumbled, picking up the items and putting them in her bag before lifting it again over her shoulder. She reached her hand out to help Adam up but he managed to use the tree to help himself up, suddenly feeling a little better. His shoulder was still killing him but the lack of blood loss gave him just enough energy to move with her as she guided him away from the tree.

Back on the road, a black Dodge Durango pulled up next to the abandoned car with a squeak of the tires to stop quickly. Greg Williams jumped out of the passengers side door to look over the car with anguish. Spying that no one was inside, he kicked the door in frustration and broke the driver's side window.

"Damn it! Can't you two do anything right!" He gritted out between clenched teeth. "Not only have you managed to lose them but you, Smith have managed to lose the only form of identity you have left." Greg yelled at the younger man that had been in the bar. The man cowered away from the raging brunette man in front of him.

"Sorry, Sir. He knocked me out. I will obtain a new one at headquarters asap." He confirmed in a military like voice, trying to not look directly at him.

"Well, that's not good enough. I cannot risk them figuring out who we are and exactly what they have." Greg mumbled, pulling a gun and shooting the younger man in the head at point blank range without so much as a blink. He would have his badge turned off immediately. A small amount of blood collected on his forehead before he fell to the ground on his back, his eyes forever open in shock. Greg didn't take a second glance, continuing his search of the car, hoping against hope she'd left that stupid box in her race to leave. The other man began to help, not only out of duty but fear for his own life.

"Sir, there's blood on the passenger's seat!" He reported, standing up straight where he stood. Greg walked around the car and looked inside at the traces of blood dripping from the seat belt and cushion and unto the floor.

"Murphy!" He yelled standing up. The man stood up straighter, trying to impress his superior.

"Yes, sir."

"Get a sample of that blood to run for a DNA match. I want to know which one of them in injured, they can't have gotten far if one of them is bleeding this bad. Also, clean up this mess." Greg motioned, stepping over the dead body of the man he shot and heading around the back of the car to get back in the truck. He immediately opened his ringing phone, as it vibrated in his pocket, the moment the door to the truck was shut.

"Williams, sir." He answered.

"Williams, where are you? I need you and your team in Paris first thing in the morning to take care of a national security threat." The man on the other end yelled at him with anger dripping from his voice.

"Understood, sir. We'll be there, just finishing up a job." Greg smiled to himself, he couldn't wait to tell his man off and see his face.

"Williams, you better not be still chasing your wife on company time, using company men! You hear me!" The man on the line yelled. "You get your ass to Paris!"

"No, sir. We're on a private job now, free lance contractor needed someone disposed of, won't take longer than a day." He lied easily now, internally groaning.

"It better not, Williams or I'll be putting out a job on you!" The man yelled before hanging up the phone in Greg's ear with a slam of the receiver. Greg's face heated up with anger but he closed the phone and opened the window to his fellow companion.

"Hurry up, the Captain wants us in Paris by the morning. We need to wrap this up and tie up the loose ends before someone ID's us. Leave Smith, they wouldn't be able to identify him anyway without his badge." He reassured the man as he entered the truck from the opposite side and got behind the wheel. Greg put the window back up and rested a pair of black ray-bans on his nose before opening a laptop computer in front of him and closing out the tracking menu for the rental car. Instead he brought up a profile of Adam in front of him.

"Adam Banks, you're going to be sorry you ever messed with me and my wife." He whispered, the truck pulling back out on the road to chart the next town.


	10. Chapter 10

In a remote location, strategically hidden off the main road from view of any prying eyes, a building stood on its own. The sky rumbled behind the glass structure warning of an impending storm to come. The building would have been thought to be abandoned if not for the ever rotating flight of black SUVs parked out front and the unfamiliar logo on the front of the building that glistened in the disappearing sun. It was thought, by locates, to be a chemicals disposal facility and therefore a place to stay away from but the truth was even more terrifying than they could have imagined.

The door to the building swung open silently to allow a man in a dark suit to enter with his black ray ban sunglasses pushed against his eyes and his black suit neatly pressed and ironed. It wasn't even sunny outside anymore, so one would wonder why the need for the glasses. He pulled an identical ID card from his pocket upon entering as the man that Adam had stolen one from. The entrance hall could have been thought to be a little odd with no other halls or doors into the interior of the building but a sole elevator parallel to the door. The receptionist never even looked up from her morning magazine as a gum bubble escaped her brightly painted cherry red lips. The pop echoing against the hollowness of the hall. The man looked in her direction with a disapproving glare resounding on his face, his eyes never faltering from behind his glasses. She didn't even look up to glare back, just continued in her morning routine of reading the monthly Cosmo and clicking her pen against the edge of the desk repetitively. Reaching the elevator, the man pressed the up button as normal but a space opened in the wall in front of him and he leaned in letting the machine inside scan his glasses for entrance. It gave an approving beep before blinking green. The doors opened in front of him and he stepped inside, taking one last look at the girl seated behind the desk with an evil glare. She'd be fired by the end of the day, he thought with a laugh but not wasting another minute on her fate.

The doors closed with a heavy bang and the man removed his sunglasses, rubbing his tire eyes. The whirl of the elevator clicking on signaled an image to appear on the side of the elevator wall.

"Good morning, Agent Trakes. You have no new assignments in your interoffice mail. You have two assignments pending completion and one new message from the director. Shall I play it for you?" The automated voice asked with a sweet monotone voice. The man looked to the image before he nodded his approval.

"Yes, please do." The man stated. Placing the glasses in his jacket pocket before standing up straight to listen to the message. The screen switched to that of an older man with thinning grey hair on the top of his head and a scowl on his face. He looked much like the man in the elevator, a nearly pressed suit and no no-nonsense attitude.

"Trakes, where the hell are you? I've been trying to reach you for an hour and you're still not in your office!" The man shook his head in disbelief of his staff this morning. "Listen, I need you to take care of an issue of high importance to your country. Agent Williams was to report for his next assignment in Europe almost 3 hours ago and he has yet not reported in. It is with good reason we believe he may be dealing with a personal matter on company time." Again the man paused to shake his head. "I need to get your ass down to Texas and find out what the hell is going on. His last know whereabouts have been loaded into your tracker. If necessary, you are authorized to eliminate any security risks that may be present as well as assess the threat of possible compromise of Agent Williams. I expect updates every 6 hours until the job is completed. If you are killed or arrested the agency will deny any involvement, you will be on your own. We're counting on you, Trakes, don't let us down." The man nodded in reassurance before the screen went blank and the man in the elevator looked down.

"Guess I'm not making it into the office after all today." He joked, a smile forming on his lips as he pressed the button again to open the exit doors to let him back into the lobby.

The musky morning dew of the woods wafted into Julie's nose as she inhaled deeply, coming out of a blissful sleep that she'd been enjoying for the last couple of hours. It was amazing that she'd slept pretty well against a tree in the middle of the forest and was more refreshed and relaxed than if she had been at her home in her bed with Greg lying next to her. She let her eyes fall back shut for a moment before opening them again and looking around for Adam. She spotted him swatted in the bushes a few yards away, looking off in the distance. Yawning again, she stood and moved towards him at a steady pace, wrapping her shirt tighter around her form from the night chill still left in the air. They hadn't been able to start a fire for fear of someone seeing it, so they had huddled together in the night air to keep warm against the wind that had picked up. She had to admit it had been comforting but in the same sense, she had been afraid to fall asleep for fear someone would attack them in the middle of the night while they were defenseless. She shook the feeling aside and approached Adam where he was huddled, it looked as if his wound was still seeping a bit of blood but the flow had slowed considerably. Julie walked to him, leaning down next to him and looked in the direction he was facing.

"What are you looking at?" She asked, trying to make out shapes in the distance. He sat for a moment to hold his shoulder.

"There's a town over there but I can't tell if Greg's been there or not. I need to get closer but if we do and they're there, I won't be able to fight them off again." He said in all honesty. Looking to her bruised face, he decided quickly that he would have to scout alone. "I think you should stay here and I'll go check it out before we head that way." He whispered, touching her cheek with his palm. his touch was soothing against her burning flesh but she couldn't think about that now when he wanted to run off on his own. Her eyes widened in shock.

"What, no. Adam, with your arm the way it is? I don't think so. I should be the one to go." She asked in disbelief.

"Jules, please just stay here. I'll be fine." He mumbled, rising from his place and sneaking ahead through the bushes before she could protest again. He probably should have gone when she was still asleep but he didn't want her to wake up and fine him missing. Julie tried to get him to reconsider but her pleas fell on deaf ears as he could no longer hear her when he moved away. She didn't want to risk calling out and drawing attention to herself more than she already had if the town was a trap. She moved back in defeat, gathering their things in the backpack and moving back over to the spot where he had been to be ready to move quickly when he returned.

Adam's "cat" like skills was nothing to match Julie's back in their days of hockey and with his shoulder the way it was, he could not move in the stealth the way he used to. He fumbled over some brush and cracked a couple branches on his way into town. The village seemed to be deserted save a few people coming and going from place to place but none resembled Greg or his black suits. He couldn't imagine the town consisted of more than a few dozen people to begin with. Adam decided to get closer and take a better look to ensure no one was around before he went to get Julie.

The sun poured down from the clear blue sky in the desert heat, Keri Clark thought, wiping the sweat from her already sweaty brow. It definitely was not the day to have horse and barn duties, she thought with a sigh, lifting the heavy bucket of feed in her hands to begin her walk to the gate.

"Keri, don't forget to give those horses water, it's hot out there..." Her Mother yelled from the back window, ringing her hands on her apron as she watched the young woman struggle with the bucket. Keri didn't turn around, it would have taken too much effort in the heat to do so but she nodded in acknowledgement and waved her hand in her mother's direction to signal she's heard her and would do what she asked. Mary Clark closed the window behind her with a click to keep in the cool air conditioning she was enjoying as she sat down to do the sewing of the families laundry while she hummed to herself. Her husband, Ted Clark sat on the other side of the room watching the hockey game that was playing on ESPN and yelling at the TV. How he ever understood that game was beyond her, they could never dream of having ice in the deep south of Texas to be able to play such a sport. She knew her sister's boy had played back in the day but that had to have been almost ten years ago now. She nodded her head with confusion as a player was hit against the glass before going back to her task at hand, not noticing her daughter out the window, climbing the horse fence with ease.

Keri Clark was only 15 years old but if asked she would have told you she knew everything there was to know about the world. She'd visited her Uncle Paul in North Carolina a few times and she'd seen the ocean, what more could there be? Her cousin Dwayne had went to get a fancy education and came back to tell her all about what he had seen, so between the two of them, she was pretty sure she had this life figured out. As she climbed the fence to take the bucket over to the horses, she contemplated this thought. Nelly, her favorite horse, ruffed and neighed, coming over to sniff the food she was offered and Keri patted her head to let her know it was alright to eat.

"Easy, girl. I know you're hot out here." Keri whispered, looking to the forest off to the right of the stable. it must have been much cooler in there, she thought, longing for the days when she could play in the boundaries of the forest. It seemed to be a clear day but something wasn't right about the feeling in the air. Between the strange men dressed in black suits that had shown up the day before claiming to be looking for a loose criminal, to the uneasy feeling in the air that stirred her thoughts, she wanted to return to the safety of her home and not come back out for the rest of the week. Nelly snorted next her, bring her from her thoughts and back to the task on hand. The hose was just beyond the barn; Keri could run there and back in a moment before anyone even knew.

Climbing back over the fence she thought she heard a noise come from the forest just off to her right and then again from a few meters away. The snapping of twinges a distinct sound she'd known well. She shook her head in disbelief when the sound didn't come again, she was just scaring herself in believing something was there. She shook her head with annoyance, she wasn't 14 anymore, she should stop doing that. There were no monsters to get her out her in the broad daylight. The air finally let a small breeze began to blow against her face as the barn came into reach and she ran her hand along the side as she walked, feeling the jagged edges and loose splinters graze her finger tips. The hose was within her reach in another moment and she gripped it in her right hand to turn it on with her left, letting the cool water run out the end for a moment to cool down.

"Pssz." She thought she heard a sound from the woods again, this time behind her. She turned to look and found no one in her sight, it must have been her imagination again, she thought, going back to what she was doing. Her mind must have been paying tricks on her in this heat. She wiped her forehead again, letting the water run over her toes before moving towards the stable again.

"Hey..."A voice caught her attention. She had definitely heard a man's voice this time. Continuing to grip the hose with her right hand she slowly moved towards the brush that lined the forest surrounding their house. it better not be Nelson playing another joke on her, she was beat him to a pulp this time.

"Who are you? Who's there?" She asked out loud, wondering if she'd get a reply or if the man would jump from the brush and scare the crap out of her like what usually happened.

"Have you seen any strange looking men in town today?" The voice asked again, just above a whisper. She immediately thought of the criminal they had been describing that had taken a girl hostage across the state line. She gripped the hose tighter.

"If you're that guy those men in black suits were looking for, you better show yourself before I call the police!" She warned in her best adult voice that she could muster without sounding scared. If it was the criminal, she was ready to hose him and run for the house.

"Okay! Okay..." The man's voice answered as the bushes moved slightly against his form and he stood to reveal himself. Adam stood slowly, his hands in the air to show he was unarmed, at least if someone was going to get caught he would be him and not Julie, he thought with a defeated sigh. The girls eyes widened and she moved the hose slightly in her excitement sending a gush of water in Adam's direction. He coughed as the water hit his face and spat out the unexpected substance. It was cool to his skin but the surprise of it had caught him off guard. He sputtered in response.

"Oh, Gosh! I'm so sorry, Banks!" She muttered, dropping the hose and grabbing a towel from the barn to hand to him. He spit a couple more times before satisfied he's gotten all the water out of his throat.

"It's alright. You know who I am?" He asked surprised. She seemed taken aback.

"Know who you are? you're only like the best hockey player in the league..." She seemed astonished he would think she wouldn't know him. He laughed slightly, causing his shoulder to ache with the new movement. His other hand gripped the limb in it and she noticed the blood still coming from the wound.

"Oh, gosh... we better get you to the Doc; he'll know how to fix that!" She cried, gripping his arm to look at the wound herself.

"No, I need to know if those men are still in town." He asked, stopping her from pulling him along the dirt path to the house. She shook her head, no.

"Nah, they'd was here and left all in the same day." She stated, again trying to pull him towards the house. "My cousin told them we'd not had none criminals here." She reassured, knowing her cousin would want to see him.

"Wait, I need to get my friend... she's alone in the woods..." He tried again to pull back on her grip and this time succeeded.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll go get her." Keri replied with excitement, letting go of his arm and turning to march into the woods by herself.

"I got an idea, let's go get her together." Adam suggested, moving the opposite direction that she had been heading.

"Well, alright but we can't be gone long, my parents will worry and we need to get your shoulder fixed, can't have you damaged for the rest of the season now can we." She smiled, leading the way back into the woods where he came from. He smiled at her but in his mind he was really thinking she was one nuts girl. Glancing back at the town he wondered if they even had television. It looked like something out of a western.

Julie sat still huddled against the nearby tree waiting for Adam to return and tell it was all clear to move. He'd been gone almost an hour and she was beginning to worry that he got himself caught or had lost his way back to her. Maybe she should go look for him, she thought. That was all she needed, for him to be lost or captured. After she'd spent most of the night trying to get him back healthy. She was afraid she wouldn't have any strength if not for him and she sure as hell wasn't going to make it out of these woods without him, which left only two outcomes to her small adventure so far, death or Greg finding her. She knocked her head back against the tree in debate. No she was stronger than that, and she could do this on her own if need be. She stood and began to pace the small area they had made camp at, looking to the supplies they had. It wasn't that far back to the police station, she could make it in a day and radio for someone to help her but would they get there before Greg could? What was Greg anyway? A cop, a spy? It scared her to think she'd known him for all these years but yet she never really did. He had all this anger and rage that he constantly took out on her and yet she never knew why or how he had gotten that way. The questions just kept piling up and her head hurt from trying to make sense of all the things she couldn't understand. She sat down again in her same spot to wait a few more minutes and give her head a chance to catch up with her thoughts.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Keri asked for the 7th time since they'd left her barn to go get Julie. They had been walking for further than Adam had remembered. They had to have been getting close, Adam sighed.

"Yes, I marked the path with these stupid little berries." He reminded her with frustration, picking one up and crushing it between his fingers. The juices squirted out over his thumb and he almost wanted to eat it. His stomach growled with approval, he hadn't eaten anything since the day before last and he knew if he didn't get something soon, he was pass out.

"Don't eat those..." Keri warned, knowing the look on his face as she studied the berries. Adam looked to her with confusion, dropping the fruit to the ground.

"Why, what's wrong with those?" He asked, continuing to walk in front of her.

"Their poison. One berry and your throat will swell up like a balloon." She said, coming to stand next to him. Her nodded in response.

"Good to know..." He said without much enthusiasm. Just one more thing that he didn't need right now. Keri looked to the path of berries laid in front of them.

"It seems like we've been walking a long time. How far away did you leave her?" She groaned, stomping on a plant to her right to clear a path. Adam groaned too, of all the towns they could have ended up in and of the all the people for him to meet, he had to meet his#1 fan and she had to be a 15 year old girl with a big mouth. At least she knew her way around. He groaned again finally coming into the clearing that he left Julie in where the berries ended. The space was empty and silent.

"Jules?" He questioned, looking around, a hint of fear in his voice as he searched the tree line. Keri too looked in the brush for any sign of the girl they were supposed to have been looking for. Adam looked around the area again before being hit in the arm with a branch. The force would have knocked him down if it had hit him a little harder. He grabbed the stick, pulling the own from the bushes when he yanked it free. Julie was on the other end, her eyes wide with terror expecting to find Greg on the other end. Her face distorted as if she thought she was coming face to face with her husband again and she turned away, expecting an impact.

"Jules." He cried, taking the stick away from her and pulling her to him in a hug. She cried out in relief, gripping his good arm in her hands and burying her face in his stained shirt.

"I heard someone coming and I didn't know who it was, so I hid in the bushes. I didn't mean to hit you!" She apologized, gripping him against her but being careful not to touch his shoulder.

"It's okay. It's okay." He reassured her, "We need to go now." He responded, taking her hand and turning back to Keri. She smiled awkwardly towards Julie, pretty sure that her cousin would know this girl as well. She could have sworn she saw pictures of her too in his picture frames.

"Hi, I'm Keri..." She mumbled, going to shake Julie's hand. Julie resisted, not knowing the girl in front of them and looked to Adam for reassurance to trust the girl. He nodded, nudging her forward.

"It's okay, she's from the town, and she's going to help us." Adam nodded, watching as Julie silently shook Keri's hand. The two women looked at each other for a moment before Adam gripped Julie's hand and began leading Julie out of the clearing.

"It's okay, Miss. I'm Adam's biggest fan; I would never do anything to hurt you." She assured her, trying to put a smile on her lips to assure Julie she meant no harm. Julie nodded, slightly, grabbing the pack from the ground where she'd left it and gripping it against her chest. She looked to Adam as she leaned against the nearby tree and supported Adam as best she could with his weakened shoulder to help him walk.

"We need to get him to a doctor." Julie questioned, knowing they would have to have some sort of medical treatment in the town if they were self-sufficient. Keri nodded,

"Come on, this way! I'll take you to Doc. He's the best we got her. He fixed up my head two summers ago when I fell off Nelly's back during the annual bull roping contest." Keri said excited, showingthem a scar tucked up under her hairline. Julie's eyes looked to Adam before Keri headed out of the clearing, leading the way out of the forest and to wherever Doc was. Julie's eyes questioned Adam with confusion.

"I know, just follow the girl." He mumbled, not really having the energy to explain why they didn't have much choice.


	11. Chapter 11

The town doctor's office actually was an old pharmacy that had been shut down when the grocery store opened a few years back, or so Julie and Adam had found out after being lead there by Keri a few minutes before. She promised to return with the doctor shortly, quickly running out the front door and leaving the two wore travelers alone with their thoughts. Adam's eyes wandered the front office, the front counter still had its dividers for filling prescriptions up but it didn't seem that people would have been lining up that fast to get their orders filled in this small town. They hadn't seen a soul on their walk here, save a few stray chickens that Keri said must have gotten out of their coup. The shelves in the back of the counter had been filled with medical equipment and the one door in the entire room must have lead to the exam room that was off to the left, closed firmly against the frame. Not much of a doctor's office but he guessed they made do with what they had.

Julie sat heavily on the arm of one of the chairs positioned against the right hand wall for people waiting to be seen. She let out a sigh of both relief and exhaustion, rubbing her face with her hands. What she wouldn't do for a clean bed and a shower at this point, she thought miserably. Looking down at her hands, traces of Adam's blood still lingered under her finger nails and in the cracks of her skin. She tried her best to clean them in the stream they had found the night before but to no avail, the red substance still remained. It didn't matter, she realized a second later, glancing at herself in the mirror of the window. Her hair was matted and dirty with dust from the forest, her shirt was torn from being caught on branches and her face was still bruised from her last encounter with her husband. Touching the deep purple spot on her face, she nearly cried out at the pain as it throbbed under the added pressure. The adrenalin of the chase must have prevented her from feeling the after effects of Greg's backhand two nights ago but now that they'd relaxed, the pain was coming back tenfold. She slowly moved her jaw to find that it worked perfectly, so it must just have been her cheek bone that was busted. Thinking about her husband, Julie's eyes scanned the road outside the window for any sign of him but found nothing out of the ordinary. For the first time in her life, she actually saw a tumble weed cross the dusty dirt road a few feet away before blowing behind a house. She almost smiled if it didn't hurt so much to do so and she could remember how to.

"Julie..." Adam's voice stopped her thoughts. She turned back to the injured man that had now placed himself in the vacant seat next to her. "Are you hurt anywhere else but your cheek?" He asked, looking to her with worried eyes. She glanced down at her body, save a couple scratches and some old scars she was just really dirty. He'd done a good job at shielding her in the police station from the bullets. She looked back up at him after her survey and shook her head.

"No, just my cheek." She said, touching it again with very light finger tips. Adam reached his hand up to trace where her fingers had just been and Julie let him this one time, welcoming his touch with in intake of breath. Her eyes watching him with interest the entire time, making sure he was gentle with her and he wasn't going to try for more.

"Does it hurt?" He asked, trying to be as gentle as possible when his fingers met her skin. She nodded slowly, letting out a hiss of pain before brushing his hand away.

"Yeah but not any worse than anything else he's every done." She said, turning away to look again out the window. Adam sighed, running a hand through his hair and finding a few hidden leaves that fell to the floor next to his chair and slowly settled against the foot of his chair. Once the doctor fixed his shoulder, he wanted him to look at Julie's cheek, if she'd let him touch her. She probably had a broken cheek bone and maybe a partially broken eye socket from the looks of the bruise forming around her eye. It had taken their entire trip for her to allow him even one graze of her cheek, not counting the kiss in the police station but that was spur of a moment thing to calm her down.

"I'm sorry, about the kiss, I mean..." His voice found strength to sound in the silence of the room. "It was stupid of me... I know you don't want to be touched and I'll respect that for now on. I promise..." He said honestly. She only nodded in response. Truthfully, she had forgotten about it until he brought it up. Now it was her mind. The way his kiss had been gentle and filled with a passion for her. All Greg's kisses were was a need to possess her and make her his. She almost shuttered at the thought of Greg's hands on her again. It wouldn't happen again, it would be over her dead body.

"You should let the doctor have a look at that cheek when he gets here." Adam said softly, hoping she'd listen to reason rather than her emotions. Julie knew it was broken, it had been before. She sighed deeply, knowing she'd need help to set it properly but she still did not feel comfortable letting other people touch her. She wrapped her arms around herself protectively, still remaining turned away.

"Adam, should we come up with a cover story or something, we don't know these people and what they might do?" Julie said, looking back at his face with worry etched in hers. What if Greg came back asking questions? New people in a small town were always suspicious, Adam thought with a slight nod.

"Yeah, I guess..." He mumbled, turning to look at her when she finally turned to face him. Before either of them could speak, the door to the office opened and a familiar face, neither of them thought they would see again, walked in. Dwayne Robertson stood in the open door way, his signature smile on his face and a cowboy hat on his head.

"Wee Doggies! Keri told me, y'all were here but I thought she was pulling my leg..." He said, stepping inside and shutting the door to the hot Texas air blowing around outside. He finally got a good look at the two of them and his face changed to one of worry at their appearance. "She didn't tell me y'all was hurt though..." He said, coming to stand in front of them and inspect their injuries.

"Dwayne!" Adam said, a small smile forming on his face as he stood to hug the taller man. Dwayne hugged him back, being careful of his shoulder.

"What in God's creation happened to y'all?" He asked, his southern accent still very pronounced in his words. He turned to Julie but she blocked him from hugging her before her eyes casted down and she squirmed in her seat. Her mind was racing that this was another duck she would have pulled into this mess. She couldn't keep getting them hurt.

"Now Julie, ain't you gonna give a cowboy a hug..." He tried to joke but she still remained turned away. Adam motioned for him not to push it so Dwayne backed off, looking between the two of them for a long moment.

"We're in big trouble..." Adam started, casting his eyes in Julie's direction every so often. "We're running from Julie's husband Greg..." Adam said, again looking back at Julie to gage her reaction. Dwayne's face was one of confusion.

"Y'all weren't cheating were you?" He asked, looking again between the two of them. He knew they had a history together but cheating wasn't something he condoned. Adam shook his head no.

"No, Julie's husband is not a nice guy... He did this to us..." Adam said, motioning to his shoulder and her face. Dwayne still looked confused but his confusion let way to anger when he took a good look at Julie and her busted cheek.

"Man, where I come from, you never hit a lady. Where is this piece a manure, I'll teach him a thing or two about respect..." He said, balling his fist against his palm and looking around the room. Adam shook his head.

"No, there's something not right about him. He's got guys with guns and black suits that are helping him..." Adam started before Dwayne cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"You mean those guys that came through yesterday? Those are the ones after y'all." Dwayne asked as Adam nodded his head. Dwayne shook his head with disgust. "Don't you worry, little lady. You're safe here..." He said trying again to get Julie's attention. She only nodded in response. "I'm sure Keri has Doc on his way here now, then we'll get you put up over at the Inn. My Momma is the Innkeeper and she'll get you all taken care of." Dwayne promised. Adam nodded again in approval.

"Thanks Dwayne, you have no idea what we've been through." He said clapping the man on the shoulder. Dwayne just shrugged in response. Julie's eyes darted their way in fear.

"No, Adam, we can't stay here... I will not put Dwayne in harm's way like I have you..." She said becoming suddenly angry and standing up to confront him. it was bad enough she would have to deal with the guilt of Adam's injuries, she did not need another Duck putting his life on the line for her.

"Easy there..." Dwayne tried to sooth her. "It's no trouble, besides we done sent those guys thru to the next town. They won't be back for some time..." Dwayne tried to reason. "Any if they do come back, we'll tell him again that we ain't seen you." He reasoned Julie's eyes, still filled with fear and she looked to Adam for reassurance. He nodded only slightly.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with..." She warned but Adam tried to calm her.

"If they've already been through they'll probably keep looking until they realize we couldn't have gotten that far and then turn around to come back. By then we'll be gone..." Adam said, taking her hand. She seemed to calm only slightly before she sighed in defeat. She really did want a shower and a warm place to sleep for the night but she would not sell out her friends to do so.

"Right, so y'all come up with something yet to tell people of why y'all look the way y'all does... People in a small town like to gossip..." Dwayne said looking back and forth between the two. "If those men come back we shouldn't give any of 'em reason to wonder." Dwayne surmised. Adam shook his head no.

"No, we were just talking about that when you walked in actually." Adam said, coming to sit back next to Julie in the uncomfortable chairs.

"It'd make it a bit easier to say y'all are married... Then Julie can stay with you and no one will be none the wiser..." Dwayne suggested, motioning between the two of them.

"Keri already knows who I am and everything, won't others know I'm not married..." Adam asked with skepticism. Dwayne shook his head.

"Nah, most people don't even have television down here... If they do it's only the basic channels... We'll just try to keep it simple is all... I went to school with y'all, you got married and you came to visit me..." Dwayne said, making up the story in his head.

"Yeah, and the injuries..." Adam questioned, looking up into the taller man's face from his seated position. He didn't want to be deemed an abuser.

"Y'all got into a car accident on your way here... Those roads can be bad at night..." Dwayne said, figuring this all out in his head as he spoke. For somethings he was good at making up tales. Adam only nodded, he guessed it would make sense for now and explain why they had no car to leave. He sighed heavily, resting his head in his good hand.

"Alright..." Adam said with a nod. Dwayne smiled again as the door behind them opened and Keri rushed in with a old man, carrying his medical bag tightly in his right hand.

"This is Doc... He'll get y'all fixed up..." Keri said with a bright smile on her face. Dwayne turned back from looking at their new arrivals to Julie and Adam and nodded in approval, his grin matching that of his cousin's. Adam internally groaned at their eagerness to see him in more pain but stood to follow the doctor into his office.

"I got some clothes for you, I think I might be a little smaller than you but I got loose stuff..." Keri tried to smile at Julie as she handed her a bag of clothes. Julie looked over the loose fitting grey pants and plain black tank top that poked out of the top. She only nodded her appreciation before standing to go to the bathroom and change.

"It's right now there..." Dwayne said, trying to guide her but Julie managed to skirt around his hands. Dwayne held up his hands in surrender as she passed. Keri looking to him for confirmation as to what was going on with the brunette. Dwayne just shook his head.

"Her husband must of messed her up something awful..." Dwayne said, shaking his head at his cousin.

"What did I miss?" Her words echoed her confusion at the current situation. Dwayne just shook his head.

"I'll tell you later..." He said before he followed Adam into the exam room to see if he could help in any way.

In the bathroom down the hall, Julie set the bag and her bag down on the floor next to the sink. Leaning heavily on it, she turned her eyes to her reflection in the mirror. She sighed heavily and silently took off her torn shirt, carefully lifting it over her head as to not touch her cheek. She brought the scrap of materials in front of her and looked to what had once been her favorite dress shirt with a heavy heart. It now had tears in it and blood caked into the hem. She shook her head with anguish before turning on the hot water and running the materials underneath. She let the water soak through the fabric before she squirted some hand soap into the pool she let form in her hands. Rubbing the materials together she started to wash her skin of the dirt that had collected. First her arms , where she remembered the burns that Greg had given her when she tried to leave him late. The late night abuse was still fresh in her mind everything she looked to the scars from where he tortured her into submission before he beat her senseless. Moving to her chest, she saw all the skin folds from objects he had used to beat her up with. The rolling pin when she burnt dinner, her old hockey stick to remind her that life was over, even his belt when he didn't have anything else. The lash marks across her stomach had been put there not three months before by that very belt. Her finger tips traced over the markings for the first time since that night. She ran the cloth over her breasts, looking to the bite marks that still reddened when brushed against. Her body hadn't been her own in a long time. Dropping the cloth into the sink she looked back at her reflection with a new strength. She would never forget what he did to her and she would never go back. it was as simple as that. She'd die before she submitted to him again. Her eyes faltered from her image but she would have to face that this was her body now. She was in control of what happened to it. There would come a time when she would need to go out on her own and not lean on Adam anymore and she feared that time was coming sooner than she thought. Running some cold water on her face, she finished up her quick clean up and changed into the clothes brought for her by Keri before backing up her stuff into the unused bag. She pulled her hair brush from her bag and ran it through her mousey brown locks without much effort before tossing it back into the back pack. The shoe box, her one remaining possession of her former life was tucked neatly inside the flap. Her fingers grazed the lid. It had been so long since she'd opened it to look inside that she hoped all the pictures hadn't faded. She was just about to lift it from its confines when a knock sounded at the door. She gripped the bag to her chest in a startled pose as Keri's voice sounded from the other side.

"Julie, Doc's just finishing up with Adam. He wants you to have your face looked at..." She said, trying to sound gentle in her approach. Julie relaxed and picked up her remaining items from the floor, even the bag of dirty clothes out of precaution more than anything else. Keri stood on the other side of the doorway, her arm flung against the jamb, her other hand on her hip. She stood straight up when Julie opened the door to exit.

"Are you alright? Is there anything else I can get for you..." She tried to ask in her best southern accent. Julie tried to smile at the younger girl but found it difficult to do so, instead just shaking her head.

"No, I'm fine..." She nearly whispered, passing the younger girl and entering back into the waiting area. Adam was coming out of the office now and smiled slightly at her new appearance. Dwayne was following close behind.

"It's your turn... Do you want me to come in with you." Adam asked. Julie looked over his shoulder at the old man wiping his hands on a cloth and looking in her direction. Her eyes met Adam's and she nodded before he took her hand and lead her towards the door of the exam room.

Within an hour Adam was stitched up and Julie's face had bandaged. There were no open cuts remaining on her face but the cold pack the doctor had given here was supposed to help with the swelling. Julie thanked him without being able to make eye contact. He only nodded, understandingly knowing there was something wrong with her besides her face. The doctor, for being a small town physician, was actually quite knowledgeable, telling Adam he'd probably need surgery to repair his muscle tear. It was clear he knew this was not from a car accident but he didn't say anything to either one of them as he fixed them up and prepared them some pain relievers to take with them. Dwayne and Keri waited as they were taken care of and then lead them to the Inn down the street, Adam taking the bag from Julie and tucking her hand in his as they walked to appear like their cover story said, a married couple on vacation.

When they walked in, Adam felt like he had just entered an old western movie. The walls were wall papered with an old floral pattern he hadn't see since his great Aunt Alice's den when he was just a little kid. All the furniture in the room was hand made out of pine, even an old wagon wheel leaned against the desk. The check in desk was a tall wooden structure was a pen rack and clip board on top and a small pull chain light with fringe on the bottom of the shade. The chandelier that hung from the ceiling was old antlers, Adam could only image what animal they may have come off of. Julie's eyes scanned the same area, wondering if they had been lost in a time warp since they arrived. Dwayne smiled at their faces.

"I know it ain't much but I'll like it here. They got those little soaps and a big ol' tub to soak in each room. Y'all will like that..." He said motioning to Julie with caring eyes. She tried to nod back. A woman with dark brown hair, much like Dwayne's, came from a door down the hall. The old wooden door swung a few times behind her before coming to a slow stop in the breeze. She wiped her hands on her apron as she went and smiled warmly at Dwayne, her smile reaching her eyes and lighting them up.

"To what do I owe the pleasure..." She smiled warmly at her son. Adam knew right away that this woman was Dwayne's Mother, the way her eyes lit up at the sight of him and reflected the same brown of his own.

"Momma, you remember my hockey friends from high school... This is Adam and Julie..." He said, motioning to them. His mother took in their appearance and looked back to her son with worry.

"My lord, are y'all okay..." She asked, holding her hand to her chest to frit over their appearance. Adam nodded, looking to Julie, who's eyes remained on the floor the entire time.

"Yes, ma'am. Just little car trouble on the way here." Adam tried his lying skills out. "Nothing a good night's sleep and a warm bath won't fix..." Adam tried to laugh convincingly to the older woman. She seemed to relax, looking to Dwayne for confirmation before she extended her hand out to Adam to shake it warmly.

"I beg your pardon. The sight of you had me a freight..." She apologized shaking his hand. "I'm Dottie Robertson, Dwayne's Mother..." She said letting go of Adam's hand then reaching for Julie's. Her eyes still remained casted down and she avoided the outstretched limb at all costs.

"My wife... Julie... She's still a bit shaken up from the accident..." Adam said, covering for her as Dottie dropped her hand with a smile.

"Of course. Poor dears..." She said, grabbing a room key from behind the counter and motioning from them to follow her up the stairs. "I'll give you two the best room in the house." She said with a smile. Dwayne led the way, following his Momma up the steps at a hurried pace to keep up with the other woman. Adam took Julie's hand in his again and began to follow, keeping a slightly slower pace for Julie. They arrived at the end of the hall on the second floor and Dottie unlocked it, letting Adam and Julie enter first.

This room was much nicer than the main lobby. A large beg sat in the middle of the room, covered in a white bed spread made of lace. It was framed by a large canopy that had white netting hanging around it but was currently tied back to each of the four posts. Julie's eyes lit up at the beautiful sight before her. Adam looked to the rest of the room, a dark wooden dresser sat opposite of the bed with a large mirror on top to shine a reflective glow from the sun shining in the windows. A chaise lounge sat in near the picture window overlooking the town and a single door lead to what Adam could only imagine to be the bathroom.

"It's beautiful. Thank you..." He said, setting the bag down on the bed and letting go of Julie's hand. Dottie nodded, a warm smile still on her face.

"I'll let you kids get settled and cleaned up. Dinner is served in the main dining room at 6 sharp." She said beginning to walk away. Dwayne handed Adam the key to the room and nodded also.

"I'll see y'all at dinner..." He promised with a nod. Adam nodded back before shutting the door and turning back to Julie. She had cautiously sat on the bed to look at her hands.

"Do you want to shower first or should I?" He asked, trying to figure out what she might be thinking. It had been a long road to get here for a minute of relaxation. She stood, nodding slightly.

"I think I will..." She said, grabbing the bag and heading for the door to the left. She disappeared inside before Adam collapsed on the bed, letting his mind relax for the first time in days. He was both mentally and physically exhausted and couldn't wait to be able to get some real food in his stomach. The gurgling of it now told him it was demanding attention but he ignored it instead choosing to close his eyes for a moments rest.


	12. Chapter 12

The bathroom mirrors were steamed with a mist of fog when Julie finally stepped out of the shower after many long minutes under the spray. She had made sure the water was too hot for any normal person and it had nearly burned her skin until it was a bright red color and felt tight against her bones. Her objective had been to wash away the touch of Greg's hands from her flesh but the feeling still remained more than she would have liked. The high temperature had only served to awake her senses to the fact that no matter how bruised her body was she was still alive. She felt every cracked bone and bruised muscle in her body. For the first time in a long time her mind was processing the way it used to before she met Greg Williams. She was thinking about plans for more than a few days ahead and planning out her next moves. She couldn't stay here forever, she knew that and more than likely she would have to leave Adam behind but not right now. She depended on him too much to leave him now. Her skin still burned with the resounding tingle of the water as she ran the towel over it to collect the remaining drops and the normally pale white flesh of her arms was bright red in color. Julie didn't care about the way her skin felt as she looked in the mirror for the second time that day. Her eyes seemed to be more alert than the last time she'd looked in them and a hint of the blue shine was returning as she studied her appearance. Her face was still bruised but somehow it looked better than it had just a few hours before, only a faint trace of bruising remaining around her eye and down into her cheek. She looked to her wet hair, touching it lightly with her finger tips and contemplating the color before her eyes trailed down to the old bruise on her shoulder that was beginning to come back into view as the skin began to cool around it.

Julie's mind wandered for only a second before she turned away from the mirror. Her appearance was exactly who Greg had made her and she didn't want to be that anymore. She wanted to be Julie Gaffney again and remember what it felt like to care about something. Anything would be better than thinking about how to avoid the next beating. She didn't linger too long on her appearance, instead, she dressed quickly to cover her broken flesh from her eyes and hide behind her discolored hair as it feel in her face when she moved. Knowing Adam was waiting for his turn in the bathroom, she tried to hurry. The soft cotton of the new sweatpants and t-shirt were exactly what she needed at the moment, her thoughts allowed a memory to flash in her mind of a time when she lived in clothes much like this. That was a time when she had Adam and the Ducks and no one else had mattered to her but what team they were playing next. Sighing heavily, she brushed her hair out with her brush and threw the used towel back on the towel bar to switch out for a fresh one later. For a moment her mind told her to fold the towel and make sure it matched the other ones perfectly but she resisted, knowing it wouldn't matter to Adam. Greg was neurotic in making sure that everything was in its proper place and ready for the unexpected visitors that would never show up. She fought the urge to grasp the towel again in her hands and instead turned from it to the closed door behind her. She'd have to completely rewrite her mind to think the way it used to.

The door to the bathroom opened with a soft creak in the old wood when Julie took the first steps out of the steam filled room and into the bedroom she would be sharing with Adam for at least the night. The sight before her had her stopping to admire the man that had saved her life as he lay in front of her. Adam was curled up in the soft folds of the bed, holding a pillow close to his chest to support his injured shoulder as he laid on his stomach. He face was buried in the remaining pillow like he used to when they would stay together on some nights. A soft repeating breath let her know he was still with her as she tried not to smile at the sight. This was their safe haven, in this room no one could touch them and the thought almost brought tears to her eyes as she looked upon him again. They could finally relax if only for a short period. She remembered being tucked into his warm embrace many times before during their high school days. Her hand silently made its way up to her arm to recreate the feeling of being wrapped in his arms. The grip of her hand was too small to pretend it was his. It wasn't the same, of that Julie was sure, even as she attempted to hug herself for reassurance and support in staying upright. Her mind screamed at her to think before she acted but her feet had other ideas as they started to move against the hard wood floor towards the bed. Adam's sleeping face turned towards her but his eyes did not open to her body moving towards his. He readjusted his body to pull the pillow closer to his chest and mumbled something softly in his sleep the way he had many times before. She found herself yearning for those days again. She wished she could go back to any one night with him and freeze time so she could just lay in his arms forever and never have to worry about Greg or anything else again. She silently hoped Adam's thoughts were about her but her mind scolded her at the thought of Greg finding out she was thinking such things. She was still married even if she choose to ignore that fact and she had no business pulling him into her mess further by opening that door, her mind reminded her but damn the consequences her body told her. The bed met her covered thighs as she bumped into it and looked down at the object blocking her movement. She'd crossed the room and not even noticed until she couldn't move any further. The soft blanket met her finger tips as she touched it, running her fingers over the top to feel it's warm inviting fabric. She wasn't thinking about anything other than the fact she wanted to feel human contact when Julie raised her knee and crawled into the bed next to Adam's sleeping form. The blankets enveloped her and she moved closer, gently tugging the pillow from within his arms the way she remembered to do it without waking him. Adam only groaned lightly before he grabbed her waist with a familiar touch and pulled her body to replace the pillow he had been using for support. The touch felt warm and reminding of what she would always think of as the best time in her life. Adam rested his head against her shoulder, allowing Julie to wrap an arm around his back and pull him close. Her eyes welded up with tears she had been holding for so long and she let a stray few run their course down her cheeks. She needed this, she needed him. Why she hadn't seen this days before when he had first come to get her, she did not know. All that had been in her head at that point had been to keep Greg happy. Right now she was sure Greg wasn't happy but she was, for the first time in a long time she was able to breathe easy. A small smile formed on her lips as she struggled to remember how to do it without forcing one. Her cheek muscles protested but they remembered how to do it after a couple moments letting her lips turn upright. It had to be sight, she wondered, the tears still dripping from her eyes and her mouth forming a small smile. She was without a doubt a mess right now but it was okay. She was okay and it felt good for the first time in a long time.

They stayed like this for many minutes, Julie wasn't sure how long as she watched the sun set outside their window and listened to Adam's breathe as it blew on her neck. She used to hate the dark because she couldn't control what she couldn't see. That fear had been replaced with a fear of the night because of the abuse it would bring from Greg but tonight she wasn't scared anymore. She had no fears because the worst had already happened to her. Now it was time to heal. Moving her hand from where it rested against her stomach, Julie brought it up to softly touch Adam's face with her palm. She didn't know where to start. They weren't out of the woods yet but for the moment they had nothing to fear and she had him to thank for it. Her thoughts went back to the day before and the unwelcomed kiss he had given her to calm her in the police station. She hadn't wanted or expected it but somehow it had changed her. His touch had begun a series of thoughts in her head that would eventually set her free. She gently ran her hand over his face from his temple to his chin, brushing the stray hair that fell in his face away from his eyes. At one point, she could have said she was ready to spend the rest of her life with this man. Her life would have undoubtedly been different if she had accepted his proposal to go with him to New York but would she still have him? Would New York have ruined their happiness and they would have ended up apart anyways? She would never know because she couldn't go back and change it now but in some small area of her mind she almost glad she had let him go and find what he needed before he returned to her. That way he would know that he really wanted her and not the life he might have been missing. The hand that she held against his chin used to be the hand she wore her wedding ring on but now it was just a trace of tan skin that marked where the ring sat for almost four years. She didn't miss it, she didn't miss him but somehow she knew she would come out of this a stronger person. A better person because she had learned the value of love and life and not to take it for granted.

Her eyes trailed from where her fingers sat to just a few inches away and Adam's chapped sun-worn lips, slightly parted with each breath. They had been soft on hers the day before, the way they used to feel. Her mind started ringing alarm bells but Julie had decided to turn off everything but what she was feeling. Leaning slightly down she tried to remember what it was like to kiss for love and not because she was told to do so. She nervously licked her lips before moving the last millimeters and pressing them to Adam's gently. She hadn't intended to wake him up but to just try to recapture the old feelings she knew she still held inside for him. His eyes fluttered open in surprise at the contact, his head raising from her shoulder and when he looked down at her, she couldn't find the right words to say what she was feeling. She took a chance and pressed their lips together again to get the full experience of kissing him before her mind overtook her body again. Adam's mind was still hazy with sleep and he wasn't sure what exactly had happened other than Julie was kissing him. He pressed his lips back in urgency and tightened his arms around her to continue to kiss her when she pulled away suddenly, turning her face away from his.

"Adam, stop..." She said quickly detangling herself from him and sitting up against the headboard. He moved back quickly, sitting on his heels as to not be too close and scare her, knowing in the back of his head that he shouldn't have done that.

"Julie, I..." He started but she shook her head.

"No, it was me, I wanted to know if I could feel anything anymore but it was too much..." Julie said touching her fingers to her lips in contemplation of the thoughts running in her head. Adam watched her with curiosity, noting she seemed different than even earlier in the same day. How long had he been asleep, he wondered looking to the window. She continued to ramble about her feelings and Adam shook his head in confusion. She was explaining her actions and not curling up on herself and hiding so something had changed in the time he had been asleep.

"Jules, are you okay?" He asked as she stopped talking and her eyes met his for the first time. She nodded her head with vigor.

"Yeah, I just... I need a minute..." She said taking in all the feelings kissing him had invoked in her. She had thought about the last time they had been together intimately but that had only brought up her time with Greg. It was like she couldn't have one without the other and it was confusing to her. She must have sounded like a crazy woman mumbling on about everything to Adam. Adam saw her face struggle to find the right emotion and wanted more than anything to hold her the way he had been just a few seconds before but he didn't want to confuse her anymore than she already was. Without saying a word, he moved from the bed and turned on the light on the bedside table to illuminate the room. Her eyes adjusted to the new light and stared up at him for a moment before he started to move about the room to find the bag with his clothes in it. Adam had seen the confusion in her eyes but he had also seen the shine that was returning to them and the redness of her lips from where he kissed her too hard. He knew she would have an effect on him once she began to return to herself but not this much, he thought, turning away from her. He had to hide just how much she had affected him and how much he still wanted her even after all this time. She watched him with curiosity when he picked up their bag from the bathroom door way and opened it to find something to change into once he'd showered. Julie's shoebox of memories sat on the top and Adam lifted it out, gently sitting it on the dresser before continuing to dig inside. She eyes remained on the box before she stood and walked to it. Adam's eyes watched her as she lifted it in the air and contemplated opening it for the first time in four years before she returned it to its resting location on the dresser and walked away.

"What is this, Julie?" He asked, looking at the old shoebox with interest. She shrugged, sitting back down on the bed and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Nothing, it's just some old pictures and stuff... Things I don't want to think about right now." She tried to make whatever was in the box unimportant to her but he could tell it already was. It had been the only thing that she had grabbed herself before they left her house days before. Adam took a step closer to it and examined the box with interest. Julie watched him from the bed but didn't say anything when he began to reach for it. Her breathe seemed to catch in her throat and she stood quickly knocking the box from his hands and watching it fall to the floor. She had only meant for him not to look inside and see that all she ever cared about in the world was him. The box hit the hard wood with a thump and pictures scattered throughout the floor of the room as the box fell open. Pictures Adam hadn't seen in years now stared back at him. Many of the ducks, many of the two of them. Julie's pictures from their senior prom, the dried rose he had presented her outside the limo that night, Julie had saved it all and it was all here. Adam's eyes met hers as she looked upon the destruction at her feet and the inevitable emotional effect these pictures would have on her.

"Julie, I'm sorry..." He mumbled, bending to pick up what he could reach but she stopped him.

"I was so afraid to face all this stuff so I boxed it up and put it in the closet instead. I couldn't just throw it out. I've been dreading looking in here for years but now it doesn't seem so bad." She whispered softly, kneeling down to collect the photos. Adam knelt next to her and picked up the ones closest to him. Glancing down at the first one, he had to smile. It was Julie and himself at the annual pie eating contest that Eden Hall did every year for local charities. Goldberg won every year but that year Julie had found an abandoned animals shelters that she knew needed the money more that whatever charity Goldberg had been donating to for the three years before. The photo was of the two of them, fresh from finishing off the last pies to beat Goldberg for the first time. Their faces were covered in whipped cream but they were happy. It had been a happy moment. Looking to all the photos scattered across the floor most of these were happy moments. Adam couldn't remember the last one he'd had without her in his life.

"Julie?" He asked when she finally looked up at him from the pictures she held in her hands. "Why did you leave me?" His eyes searched hers. She looked down again at the photo in her hands before she handed it to him. It was them celebrating winning the high school hockey tournament in their senior year, Adam had the trophy held in his hands as the ducks all gathered around him.

"Adam, hockey was your dream before you even knew who I was. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy." She said collecting the rest of the pictures and setting the box back upright before loading them back in.

"Would it have mattered if I had said being with you was my dream?" He asked. Julie looked down at their memories but she couldn't regret the fact that she had let him go for his own good. If she regretted it now she would become angry at all she had gone though that maybe she didn't have it.

"We wouldn't be here today if it had." She whispered softly.

"You would have never met Greg or had any of this happen if I had stayed." Adam promised. Julie looked up at him with surprise in her eyes at how a like they still thought.

"Don't you do that! Don't you blame yourself for not staying. That's like me blaming myself for not listening!" She nearly yelled. "I knew what Connie and the Ducks thought of him and I did it anyways. I just... I wanted my own life without the constant reminder of what we had and Greg gave me that for a while." Julie said now pulling the box closer to herself and looking in it. Adam stopped her movements , holding his hand on hers to stop her from replacing the photos.

"I wanted that too, for a long time I thought I would just get over you but it didn't happen. It only got worse... I need you, Julie... I'll always need you." He whispered looking down at their hands. She felt the familiar burn behind her eyes but she fought them back. She would not cry. She choose instead to brush his hand from hers and continue to pack up the pictures when something in the box caught her eyes. Lifting the yellow envelope from the box she set it on the floor before she put the lid on the box. Adam looked at the envelope with curiosity before lifting it to look inside.

"I didn't put that in here..." Julie whispered when Adam dumped the contents on the floor. Inside was an audio tape, another access code and some photos. Adam left the audio tape and looked through the photos with interest. In them were pictures of the President of United States meeting with the Prime Minister of Britain. If Adam's current events served him correctly this was from the last UN meeting that had taken place last year. There was another one scheduled shortly, he thought maybe next month.

"Julie, what kind of work does Greg do again?" Adam asked, looking over the photos and now examining the tape. He hadn't had a cassette player since middle school so he had no idea how they would play this but for some reason Adam had a feeling whatever was on it was important. Reaching behind him, Julie pulled their bag to the floor and took out the contents of the stuff they had lifted off the man that was chasing them. She wasn't stupid, Julie was far from it, so the items that were laid out in front of them had her wondering just what her husband did for a living.

"If I had to guess..." She started looking down over the items, "I would say something secret, maybe secret service, FBI... He traveled a lot." Julie explained. "And he always knew where I was and what I was doing when he was gone." She nodded her head while looking over the stuff one last time.

"I think Greg is into a lot more than we thought." Adam concluded, handing the photos to Julie. She looked them over as well.

"Adam, we need to find a cassette player, this could be big." She said, collecting all the items into one bag.

"We can't just let anyone know we have all this, we don't know what we even have." Adam stressed. Julie only nodded, tucking the items back into her bag with care.

"You're right. We should ask Dwayne if he has a cassette player thought and listen to this together." Adam nodded in agreement before a knock on the door startled them. Adam stood to answer it. On the other side, Dwayne stood in the hall dressed in his best flannel shirt and black cowboy hat.

"Hey Y'all. Dinner is ready so my Momma was hopin' y'all would be joining us." Dwayne said looking behind him at Julie as she got up from the floor and placed the box back on the dresser. She tried to smile at him but she couldn't find the right way to do so, so she gave up and turned to set their bag back in the bathroom.

"Yeah, just give me a couple minutes, I need to clean up. I ended up falling asleep instead." Adam told him, running a hand through his dirty hair before Dwayne nodded and left the door way with a nod. Adam shut the door, looking back at Julie as he made his way across the room.

"No one needs to know about what we think Greg is until we know what we're dealing with." He said. "We don't want to put anyone in unnecessary danger if we don't have to." Adam promised. Julie only nodded as he entered the bathroom. A moment later she heard the water turn on. She sat heavily on the bed and thought about her feelings for Adam. If she was being truthful with herself she needed him just as much as he needed her but she would never admit that to him. It would just make it hard to leave when it was time for her to do so.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Hi Guys! My deepest apologies for the delay in getting this chapter out to you guys. My younger brother was in the hospital and it's just been an all around rough couple of weeks but I finally sat down this morning and finished up this chapter so I could get it to you guys. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the reviews from last chapter and I will update again the weekend following when I get 5 reviews for this chapter so if I get 5 reviews between now and next Saturday I'll update next Saturday - with my new job I really only have the weekends to post. Thank you again! Happy Reading:) ~PrincessH~**_

The dim lights of the dining room flickered into the hallway and created a soft amber glow as Julie and Adam approached the entry way from the main hall. Julie's eyes watched the flickering in the darkness for a moment too long, stopping them in their strides before they reached the doorway and causing Adam turned to look at her with confusion. For a moment, a memory flashed in front of her eyes of a cold winter night in Minnesota not too long ago. Greg had lit the fireplace in their living room to heat the house and watch the flames burn away some of Julie's most prized possessions. Dark memories went along with that night because it was the night she had returned from the first time she tried to leave him. The light reminded her of the feelings she had felt that night as she approached the living room where she knew he would be waiting her. She had stood in the hall just outside the room for many minutes contemplating what he would do to her when she entered. Anything she had imagined was nothing like what had actually happened. The burn marks her eyes had raked over earlier in the day were just the beginning of the torture of that night. She could remember the force of the backhand that had forced her to the floor in front of the fire and the sound of the porcelain tool being lifted from its rack next to the mantle. It had only taken seconds for Greg to heat the end to his liking before he had forever branded her with his abuse. Brushing her hand over her forearm her eyes remained on the lights for a few more seconds.

"You okay? We can eat in our room if that would make you more comfortable." Adam suggested with questioning eyes. Julie seemed to realize where she was and shook her head negatively, looking to Adam's face for reassurance that she was safe here. She hated relaying on him so much but it was times like this that Julie realized just what she had done by leaving Greg. She knew the consequences should he ever catch them. Her abuse would be nothing compared to what they would do to Adam before they killed him in front of her. She knew she wouldn't survive much longer after if she was forced to watch that in front of her eyes. Adam was all that was good in this world and if he got hurt because of her, she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

"No..." She nearly whispered. "No, I'll be fine." She promised, looking again to the light and silently watching it dance against the wall ahead of them. She couldn't seem to turn her brain off from its memories but maybe in some ways it was a good thing to remind her that she wouldn't go back to that. That she was stronger than that and it would never be her in that situation again. Adam's hand reached out for hers, gently squeezing her hand in his for reassurance that she could do this and placing a small smile on his own lips. Julie's eyes trailed down to their joined fingers before she nodded again to clear her head of any remaining negative thoughts. For the first time in a long time, her eyes met his and she gripped his hand back with a new found confidence that she could do this. He smiled again at her and turned to the lead the way into the dining hall.

The laughter of the occupants down the hall filled their ears as they approached without anymore words exchanged and made their way through the doorway, hands still intertwined. Dwayne immediately took noticed of them from his seat among the people already gathered around the table for the evening meal. He stood to pull out a chair for Julie to sit down in next to him and motioned for them to come further into the room.

"About time, we been waiting on y'all before we started to eat." Dwayne said, making it a point to not touch Julie as she sled into the seat he had presented to her and pulled in the chair closer to the table on her own. Adam sat to her left and their eyes met for a moment, their hands finding their way back to each other before they were brought to the center of attention.

"Everyone, these are my friends Julie and Adam. They're going to be staying with us a while. They had some car trouble getting here but I'm glad they made the trip down to these woods to see an old friend so let's make them feel welcomed." Dwayne said as everyone raised a glass to them or tipped their hats in the customary fashion of Texas. Adam raised his glass in return, wrapping an arm around Julie to show that she was appreciative as well. Julie nervously took a drink from her water glass, trying to hide behind it but also show she was equally appreciative without smiling.

"You already met my momma but this is my Daddy, Dwayne Sr." Dwayne said pointing the aging man at the head of the table. He had on a similar hat as Dwayne but his was white instead of black. Adam nodded in his direction affectionately, sitting his glass back down where it had been resting against the table cloth and reclutching Julie's hand in his own. Dwayne's Father nodded back at Adam before tipping his hat at Julie with respect. She cast her eyes down but nodded in his direction as to not appear rude. She still wasn't good with interactions especially with strangers.

"Pleasure to meet some of Dwayne's friends. We weren't able to make it up north when he was at school, so it's a pleasure to have you here now." He said, taking a drink from a bottle of some kind of alcohol he had placed in front of him. Dwayne sat next to Julie's right, having made sure her chair was tucked in and smiled encouragingly at her before he picked up his fork to start eating the meal that was in front of him.

"Now Dwayne, you know we say grace before we eat…" His Momma reprimanded him from across the table. Dwayne sat down his fork again and smiled with shame, the tips of his ears turning red with embarrassment the way always would. Julie had forgotten the look he always got when he was in trouble but the familiarness of it for some reason set her mind as ease and she was able to look down at her meal with a bit of interest instead of revolution. The steam coming off of her plate gently rose to her nose and set her taste buds on fire. Her stomach felt more than empty, it felt like it had never been full. She couldn't remember the last time she had ate a meal without being stopped to do something for Greg. Even when they went out to dinner, if Greg was done, it was time to go and there would be no exceptions. She had learned the hard way to get what food she could before it was taken away. Dwayne's hand seeking out hers from the right side had her nearly jumping from the seat to get away from the human contact as she looked to Dwayne's out stretched hand resting on the table to take hers. She wanted to yell out at him or run and hide away from everyone but it was in that moment she realized that she was the center of attention in the fact that the table was preparing to say grace before their meal. Dwayne had reached for her hand to complete the circle and here she was looking at him as if he had murder her family by touching her. Julie locked eyes with his Mother's and she tried to shrug off her reaction but the other woman was already staring at Adam with questioning eyes. Julie knew what they would think but the sad part was that their conclusions would be directed at the wrong man. Rather than cause more people to question Adam, Julie took Dwayne's hand in hers and hung her head to prepare for the blessing. Her mind was anywhere but on the words that were filling the room with the scripture of the Bible. Instead she was kicking herself for her reaction and hoping everyone forgot shortly after. Adam's hand gently squeezing hers let her know that he wasn't worried about what these people thought but she didn't want any trouble for him after everything he'd already done to help her. She continued to silently curse herself when the prayer was over and Dwayne let go of her hand to pick up his fork. Julie's head remained down as she tried to compose herself instead of making a fool of herself and Adam again. Instead of looking to the other occupants of the room and their questioning eyes, Julie looked to her food again. Dwayne's Mother had made meatloaf and from what Julie was smelling it seemed to be homemade meatloaf and mashed potatoes that had been made fresh. Julie felt her mouth water slightly and her stomach let off a loud growl. She took a glance up, hoping no one was still looking at her to hear the loud noises her stomach was involuntarily making for her. Dwayne was too busy digging into his plate to her right and Adam was deciding where to start on her left. No one's eyes were on her surprisingly enough. They weren't even on Adam anymore. It felt good for once to not be the center of someone's attention.

Carefully picking up her fork from the table, she tried the mashed potatoes first. Julie never bothered to make any potatoes herself anymore, Greg would call him starches that would make him gain weight, so she hadn't had them in ages. The buttery taste when they hit her tongue made her close her eyes to enjoy the flavors in her mouth and on her taste buds as they passed. The meatloaf too, once she got finished with the potatoes was just as delicious to her and before she knew it, she had eaten everything on her plate. Adam sat next to her, having finished his serving a few seconds before and watched her look around in embarrassment that she seemed so hungry and how fast she had eaten but no one was paying any attention to either of them. Adam tried to stifle his laughter as to not embarrass her further but Julie knew that laugh anywhere. Her head turned towards him, a look of shock on her face but he nodded it away.

"You're fine. You're getting your old appetite back... it's a good thing." Adam whispered into her ear. Julie's face was still red but she allowed a line to form on her lips. Not a smile but better than the frown she wore most of the time, Adam thought with hope that this was the start of a change in her. Dwayne was just finishing up next to her and looked to the two of them with questioning eyes.

"If y'all are finished, let's go out back and talk for a minute before y'all hit the hay." He asked. Adam nodded wordlessly before Dwayne looked to his Momma once again. "Excuse me but Momma we're going to out for some fresh air and catch up a bit?" Dwayne asked. It was only after the question that Julie realized he was asking for permission to leave the table, they way would have when she was much younger. She couldn't remember ever asking to be excused in the past ten years. Dwayne's Momma nodded approval and went back to her conversation with an older man that Julie could only assume was Dwayne's Uncle who sat next to her. "Come on, y'all." Dwayne said getting up fast before anyone said anything and throwing his napkin on the table. Adam instinctively grabbed Julie's hand in his, also tossing his napkin on the table and led the way from the dining room.

The moon was out and casting a light glow to the field behind the Inn. Adam wasn't sure what kind of crop grew in Texas but something was being grown back there. Julie sat down on the pouch swing behind him and gently rocked on the bails of her feet to make the bench swing in the night air. The soft squeaking of the old strings was calming as he turned to look at his friends. Julie was entirely too full but it was a good feeling knowing she was safe for once. Adam leaned casually against the porch railing opposite of her and watched her with interest as her fingers grazed the carvings in the arm rest. Dwayne shut the door behind them and checked to make sure that no one had followed them out before he started to talk. When he was sure the coast was clear, he turned to them with a smile on his face.

"How are y'all doin'?" He asked, looking to Adam's shoulder with interest. Adam tried to move his arm to rotate his shoulder but the ache was too much and he kept his arm tucked closely to his side not letting on how much it really hurt.

"The same, Julie's face seems to be healing up though." Adam said with a small smile, completely disregarding the pain in his arm for Julie's progress. Julie watched him nervously, wondering how he could care for her so much that her bruised face and broken cheekbone was more important that a gunshot wound in his shoulder. She'd had this injury many times before and knew how to deal with it. She doubted very much if he'd ever been shot. Dwayne nodded his heading understanding before looking to Julie on the swing.

"That's good to hear..." He trailed off into nothingness. Julie knew this was usually where he asked questions he deemed were going to be hard to answer as his eyes searched the wooden planks lining the floor. "So, I want to help y'all... I feel kind of useless at this point , not knowing nothing..." Dwayne trailed off again. Adam looked to Julie for reassurance before he spoke.

"What do you want to know?" He asked, still looking to Julie for confirmation to continue. Dwayne seemed to stand up straighter at the opening to talk that Adam had given him.

"Well I know y'all are running from Julie's ex and he's like all men in black crazy but why didn't y'all leave him to begin with? I mean the first time he hit you?" Dwayne asked, looking to Julie. Adam was going to answer for her but to his surprise Julie's meek voice started to speak first.

"I loved him... At least I wanted to believe that... It's hard Dwayne... You've got to remember him in college, how much he made me feel special..." Julie said, watching her knees move slightly as she rocked on the swing to keep busy. The motion helped her to not focus on what she was saying. It was easier to not think about how stupid she had been for the past few years. Dwayne only nodded, tucking his hands into his pockets with a nervous nod.

"I remember Connie didn't like him. If Connie don't like you than there's something wrong..." Dwayne trailed off again as to not offend anyone but he knew deep down that Julie should have seen the warning signs way before she had gotten into the situation she was currently in. Julie was a smart girl after all, she'd tutored him a time or two in many different subjects to keep him on the team. Julie only nodded in response.

"I know... I've thought about it a hundred times but I just... I wanted to be happy and he made me happy at the time." Julie said, trying not remember how many mistakes she had made because she was still so in love with the man across from her. Adam's eyes watched her for any sign this was getting to be too much for her. He would stop the conversation in a minute if he thought she was going to get upset. Dwayne knew when he should let a conversation go and so he decided to let that question go for now and move on.

"Russ called me earlier, said Connie was freaking out and had called all the Ducks to look for you guys. Said y'all was in trouble..." Dwayne trailed off. Adam hung his head. He suddenly remembered he hadn't called Connie back in a couple days. She was probably worried sick and no doubt driving Guy crazy. He glanced down at his watch and thought about calling her when they got back to the room and he could plug his phone in. It had been dead since yesterday or the day before, he couldn't even remember time anymore, it all seemed to blend together into the period before he found Julie and after.

"Yeah, I was going to call her back." Adam mumbled. Dwayne nodded away,

"Well she's freaking out. I told Russ y'all was here and you were safe for now." Dwayne said before Julie's eyes shot up.

"No, we don't know who it's safe to tell..." Julie said looking to Adam. Adam put his hands out in defense.

"They're the Ducks. They're not going to tell anyone." Adam assured her. She was more worried about them getting involved than anything else but she let it go for the moment to focus on their conversation. She'd talk to Adam later about talking to Connie.

"Okay, what are y'all planning on doing? You can't run forever..." He said, looking between the two of them. It was Adam's turn to speak.

"We really don't know. We've been running since Minnesota and no matter where we go, he always finds us..." Adam conveyed, a hint of hopelessness in his voice s he brushed his hand over his face with exhaustion in thinking about it. Julie sighed deeply, it was just as she had thought when they first left. It was ridiculous to run because he'd find them. Either by default or by some stupid mistake they made like tell anyone where they were. Hopefully the tape that they found had something that they could use against him and get him to stop chasing them. Bring the tape back to the forefront of her mind she looked to Adam to see if he would ask for the cassette player they needed to listen to it. His mind still seemed in the thought that Greg could track them where ever they decided to go next and that now they had turned their friends into possible targets. She too knew they couldn't stay here forever but she was hoping for a little while longer. Adam finally looked to her but she didn't know how to let him know what she was thinking. Instead she tried to ask herself without endangering Dwayne.

"Dwayne, you wouldn't happen to have a tape player, would you? A cassette player?" She clarified. Adam suddenly remembered the tape they had upstairs that may be their saving grace. Dwayne looked down at her with confusion marking his face.

"I'm sure I can dig one up around here but what's this about?" He asked with curiosity. Julie had been adamant she did not want to put anymore of the Duck's a risk but it seemed they all might be. She looked to Adam for a reason other than the truth but her mind coming up blank. Adam thought quick but couldn't find a reason to lie to their lifelong friend. He shook his head at Julie who looked down and silently shrugged as if to say what's the use in hiding before tears came to her eyes. Adam watched her for a moment contemplating going to her but he knew what they had to do.

"We found a tape, hidden in Julie's things that she took with her when we left. We think Greg is in to something big but we need a tape player to know for sure." Adam said looking to Dwayne. "I understand if you don't want to get involved, Julie didn't want to put you in danger. If we can just get the player we'll listen to it on our own." Adam said, standing from his spot on the railing. Dwayne looked at him with unbelieving eyes.

"Not put me in danger?" Dwayne questioned, looking between the both of them. "What are we talking here?" He asked. Adam's eyes fell again to Julie but she won't look up at him this time. He sighed deeply, there was no way around it now.

"We think it has something to do with the President..." Adam trailed off. Dwayne's eyes became as big as saucers and looked down, adjusting his hat on his head as he did so.

"Well by golly, we better have a listen to that tape, don't you think?" Dwayne said, stepping from foot to foot with nervousness. Adam only nodded before Dwayne took off back though the door to find a tape recorder. Adam looked to Julie once he was gone and slowly moved next to her, sitting down on the bench beside her. She was no longer rocking, she hadn't been since she realized there was no choice but to bring Dwayne into their mess. Adam didn't say anything to her as he watched the tears fall from the end of her nose. Her hands covered her eyes as she leaned her arms against her knees and curled up on herself once more. Adam placed his good arm around her back and placed the palm of his hand to her spine the way he remembered how when they were teenagers to get her to stop crying.

"Why did you tell him?" She sobbed lightly into her own palms, never looking at him. "Why did he tell all of them?" She sobbed. Adam continued to rub her back gently.

"Julie, we have to stop all this mistrusting... He's our friend and I know you don't want to get him hurt or anyone else for that matter but we need him and I think somehow he needs us right now too. He needs us to be okay... They all do..." Julie still did not look at him but her crying had slowed to a minimal and her back no longer shook with distress. The silence of the night filled them for the first time and Adam sighed in a bit of relief. It had been too long since he'd been able to sit still and admire the beautiful landscape. Too many cars honking and people yelling in New York for his taste. Texas seemed pretty bad from the highway but here it seemed serene and calming. Maybe it was the fact that he didn't have to look over his shoulder every couple seconds or the fact that he had Julie sitting next to him and she wasn't fighting to leave him behind to protect him. Rubbing against her back again, Adam hoped she was done with the protection ploy to keep people at a distance. He knew she truly did not want to get anyone hurt at her expense but in the same right, Dwayne and anyone else that wanted to had the right to get involved. They knew the risks just as he had and they were choosing to put themselves in that danger. Julie needed to understand that. Julie finally sat up next to him when the back door opened again and Dwayne came back out with a very old looking black stereo with the detachable speakers. Adam had to smile at the sight , he remembered when he had one very similar to it in his dorm room at Eden Hall.

"Well alright, let's listen to this tape of y'alls." Dwayne said with anticipation laced in his voice.


End file.
